Asia Fuel Oil-Spot premiums capped while Singapore stockpiles soar
SINGAPORE, Dec 19 (Reuters) -Spot fuel oil premiums were capped on Thursday, while weekly onshore inventories at Singapore spiked to their highest in more than eight years, latest data showed.
Stronger supplies have flooded Asia in recent months, while bunker fuel demand slowed towards the year-end holiday season, contributing to the build, trade sources said.
High inventories are expected to continue capping recovery in market benchmarks. Spot differentials for both very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) and high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) grades remained in narrow premiums to cargo quotes.
Meanwhile, trading direction of refining margins diverged for both grades, with a few trading houses buying up HSFO derivative contracts while VLSFO market softened, said sources.
Cracks for VLSFO LFO05SGDUBCMc1 closed lower at premiums of about $10.50 per barrel, while 380-cst HSFO cracks FO380DUBCKMc1 closed higher at discounts of $3.90 per barrel, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Reflecting the stronger performance of HSFO, the hi-five fuel oil spread FO05-380SGMc1 narrowed day-on-day, closing at about $91 per ton.
Meanwhile, Thailand's PTT offered a cargo of fuel oil for January loading in a tender that closes on Dec. 19. The cargo, comprising 35,000 tons of LSFO, is expected to load from Map Ta Phut between Jan. 20 and 22.
INVENTORY DATA
- Singapore onshore fuel oil stockpiles STKRS-SIN surged by over 60% week-on-week to 28.97 million barrels (about 4.56 million metric tons) in the week to Dec. 18, data from Enterprise Singapore showed on Thursday.
OTHER NEWS
- Oil prices fell on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve signalled it would slow the pace of interest rate cuts in 2025, which could hurt economic growth and reduce fuel demand. O/R
- Ukraine struck Russian territory with at least 13 missiles and 84 drones, triggering a fire at an oil refinery in the southern Rostov region that burned for hours, Russian officials said on Thursday.
- Sinopec said on Thursday it expects China's petroleum consumption to peak by 2027 as diesel and gasoline demand weakens, while noting that the incoming Trump administration represented a major question mark for China's energy industry.
- U.S. oil refiners are expected to have about 265,000 barrels per day (bpd) of capacity offline in the week ending Dec. 20, decreasing available refining capacity by 171,000 bpd, research company IIR Energy said.
WINDOW TRADES O/AS
- 180-cst HSFO: No trade
- 380-cst HSFO: No trade
- 0.5% VLSFO: No trade
ASSESSMENTS
FUEL OIL | ||||
CASH ($/T) | ASIA CLOSE | CHANGE | PREV CLOSE | RIC |
Cargo - 0.5% VLSFO | 528.62 | -6.35 | 534.97 | MFO05-SIN |
Diff - 0.5% VLSFO | 1.90 | -0.05 | 1.95 | MFO05-SIN-DIF |
Cargo - 180cst | 449.87 | -2.64 | 452.51 | FO180-SIN |
Diff - 180cst | 3.95 | -0.85 | 4.80 | FO180-SIN-DIF |
Cargo - 380cst | 440.66 | -1.34 | 442.00 | FO380-SIN |
Diff - 380cst | 4.25 | 0.20 | 4.05 | FO380-SIN-DIF |
Bunker (Ex-wharf) Premium - 380cst | 9.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 | |
Bunker (Ex-wharf) Premium - 0.5% VLSFO | 6.00 | 1.00 | 5.00 |
For a list of derivatives prices, please refer to ENSWAP/INFO or the RICs below: | |
180cst M1 | FO180SGSWMc1 |
180cst M1/M2 | FO180SGSDMc1 |
380cst M1 | FO380SGSWMc1 |
380cst M1/M2 | FO380SGSDMc1 |
0.5% VLSFO M1 | LFO05FSGMc1 |
0.5% VLSFO M1/M2 | LFO05FSGSMc1 |
Cracks 180cst-Brent M1 | FO180BRTCKMc1 |
Cracks 180cst-Dubai M1 | FO180SGCKMc1 |
Cracks 380cst-Brent M1 | FO380BRTCKMc1 |
Cracks 380cst-Dubai M1 | FO380DUBCKMc1 |
Cracks 0.5% VLSFO-Brent M1 | LFO05SGBRTCMc1 |
Cracks 0.5% VLSFO-Dubai M1 | LFO05SGDUBCMc1 |
Visco 180cst/380cst M1 | FOVISSGDFMc1 |
Hi-5 0.5% VLSFO/380cst M1 | FO05-380SGMc1 |
GoFo 10PPM/0.5% VLSFO M1 | GO10FO05FSGMc1 |
East-West M1 | FOSGEWMc1 |
Barges M1 | HFOFARAAMc1 |
Barges M1/M2 | HFOFARAASMc1 |
Crack Barges-Brent M1 | HFOFARAACMc1 |
Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi
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