Asia’s spot premium for 0.5% very low sulphur fuel oil eased for a seventh consecutive session to a three-month low on Friday, while Kuwait’s Al Zour closed a term tender in the previous day, reports XM.
Oil exports ramped up
Kuwait is set to ramp up refined oil product exports from its new Al Zour refinery in the second half of 2023 to plug Russian shortfalls in Europe and meet growing demand in Asia and Africa, industry sources and analysts said.
The refinery has issued at least 10 VLSFO supply tenders, including seven spot cargoes and three semi-term tenders that each offered one cargo per month for three months. It awarded its latest term tender for loading between March and May to Glencore at an unknown discount to Singapore quotes, according to trade sources.
Bunker premiums crash
The first cargo is scheduled to load between March 12 to 13, while dates for April and May will be scheduled later. The cargo volume ranges from 120,000 tonnes to 150,000 tonnes, stable to higher from its previous cargo size.
Underpinned by strong supplies, the 0.5% VLSFO cash differential (MFO05-SIN-DIF) fell further to $5.68 a tonne on Friday. Bunker fuel premiums in the delivered market at Singapore have also crashed in the week to levels of low $10s over Singapore quotes, as demand softened in February.
ARA inventories (STK-FO-ARA)
Fuel oil inventories in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub rose 9% to 1.17 million tonnes in the week ended Feb. 23, latest data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.
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Source: XM
