Spot fuel oil differentials were little changed on Tuesday, while Kuwait offered both very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) and high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) for August, trade sources said.
The Singapore 380-cst HSFO cash differential hovered at a discount of $6.05 a metric ton, while VLSFO cash differential held steady at a premium of about $4.50 a metric ton.
Markets were broadly quiet, though Kuwait’s KPC offered 60,000 tons of HSFO for loading between August 2 and 3, as well as 130,000 tons of VLSFO for loading between August 14 and 15, said sources. The tender closes on Tuesday.
Cracks for VLSFO closed at premiums of about $10 a barrel, while 380-cst HSFO margins were at discounts of nearly $4 a barrel, based on LSEG data.
The market remained well supplied, with total arrivals of fuel oil to East Asia at more than 6 million tons, ship-tracking data showed as of Tuesday.
BUNKER DATA
Sales of bunker fuel softened at the United Arab Emirates’ Fujairah port in the first half of 2025, falling 5% from the same period in 2024, data from the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ) showed.
Bunker volumes from January-June this year totalled 3.7 million cubic metres (about 3.6 million metric tons), compared with 3.9 million cubic metres in the same period last year, based on FOIZ data published by S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Sales in June declined to a four-month low of 563,000 cubic metres, down 8% from May.
OTHER NEWS
– Oil prices declined for a third consecutive session on Tuesday on concerns the brewing trade war between major crude consumers the United States and the European Union will curb fuel demand growth by reducing economic activity.
– A tanker chartered by energy major BP left a port run by newly sanctioned Indian refiner Nayara Energy without loading, according to five industry sources and LSEG shipping data, a sign fresh European Union curbs on Russia are beginning to bite.
– U.S. gasoline prices could fall below $3 a gallon this summer for the first time in over four years as a stretch of bad weather events dampens fuel demand and a jump in imports fills inventories.
– Indonesian sovereign wealth fund Danantara plans to sign an $8 billion engineering, procurement and construction contract with U.S. engineering firm KBR Inc to build 17 modular refineries, according to two sources familiar with the matter and an official economic ministry presentation seen by Reuters.
WINDOW TRADES
– 180-cst HSFO: No trade
– 380-cst HSFO: No trade
– 0.5% VLSFO: One trade
Source: Reuters