Asia's cash premiums for 0.5% very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) dipped on Monday, but stayed within sight of their highest levels since February 2020 amid tighter regional supplies.

Cash differentials for Asia's 0.5% VLSFO were at a premium of $21.70 a tonne to Singapore quotes, down from $22.36 per tonne at the end of last week. The premiums, which hit a multi-month high of $22.60 last Thursday, have more than doubled in the last two weeks.

The front-month VLSFO crack was at $13.73 per barrel against Dubai crude during Asian trade, compared with $14.48 per barrel on Friday.

Meanwhile, Asia's cash differentials for 380-cst high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) FO380-SIN-DIF widened their discounts to $1.23 cents per tonne to Singapore quotes on Monday, compared with a discount of $1.09 per tonne on Friday.

"Weaker demand will put further pressure on HSFO, which slipped into a shallow contango at the front of the market... HSFO is likely to continue to underperform until gas prices moderate in the spring," consultancy Energy Aspects said in a note.

The Dec/Jan time spread for the 380-cst HSFO  traded at minus 50 cents per tonne on Monday.

 

WINDOW TRADES O/AS

- No VLSFO trades, no HSFO deals

 

OTHER NEWS

- Saudi Arabia's state oil producer Aramco raised official selling prices (OSPs) for all crude grades sold to key market Asia for a second straight month in January, tracking robust gains in Middle East spot market last month.

- Oil rose by more than $1 a barrel to above $71 on Monday as hopes that the Omicron coronavirus variant may cause mostly mild symptoms boosted riskier assets and as the prospect of an imminent rise in Iranian oil exports looked less likely. O/R

 

 

(Reporting by Koustav Samanta; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel)