SINGAPORE: Asia's fuel oil crack for benchmark 180-centistoke was at its narrowest discount to Dubai crude in almost four weeks at $3.46 a barrel on Friday, lifted by refinery turnarounds, an overall decline in crude oil prices and firm demand for the industrial fuel, industry sources said.
Following five consecutive sessions of gains, 180-cst fuel oil cracks to Dubai crude are now near an eight-month high of $3.22 a barrel seen on Sept. 20.
Since the start of the week, the discount for 180-cst fuel oil cracks has narrowed by 82 cents a barrel from minus $4.28 a barrel on Monday.
No cash deals were made in the Platts window on Friday as suppliers again withheld from making offers amid volatile crude oil markets, industry sources said.
ARA STOCKS:
Fuel oil stocks independently held in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) oil hub recovered from a near two-year low reached in the previous week.
Inventories in the oil hub rose 24 percent in the week to Oct. 20, or 122,000 tonnes, to a total of 0.64 million tonnes, according to Dutch consultancy PJK International.
The rise in inventories was likely due to the arrival of some Russian fuel oil supplies following an increase of output there, industry sources said.
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