Asia Fuel Oil: HSFO cash premiums dip; MPA probes bunker contamination

SINGAPORE: Asia’s cash premiums for 380-cst high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) slipped on Monday, but stayed close to a more than two-year high touched last week amid steady demand and limited supplies.

The cash differentials for 380-cst HSFO were at a premium of $21.19 per tonne to Singapore quotes, compared with $21.50 per tonne on Friday.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), home to the world’s top marine refuelling hub, said it was investigating a number of incidents of ships being affected by bunker fuel contamination in the port.

At least 14 ships that received tainted HSFO from Singapore suffered loss of power and engine problems, fuel and oil testing firm Veritas Petroleum Services (VPS) said late last week.

The authority said it was notified of the issue on March 14 and immediately contacted bunker suppliers to stop supplying the relevant batch of fuel, and to inform all ships supplied with the fuel to exercise caution when using it, according to an emailed statement late on Sunday.

“Just for the time being, yes, this contamination will scare away some of the HSFO users. But at this moment there’s no scare for the low-sulphur fuel oil users... It’s affecting a couple of players only, but the rest of the suppliers so far haven’t got any of it,” said Simon Neo, head of marine fuels consultancy SDE International Pte Ltd.

“I don’t think it will keep impacting ships for long... The contaminated product was loaded from floating storages. I suspect most of this product has already been transferred out,” he added.

Cash premiums for Asia’s 0.5% VLSFO dropped to $18 a tonne to Singapore quotes on Monday, compared with $20.16 per barrel on Friday.

The front-month VLSFO crack dipped to $22.39 per barrel against Dubai crude during Asian trading hours, compared with $22.68 per barrel on Friday.

Europe and Russia will both lose heavily if President Vladimir Putin follows through on his threat to cut gas supplies to countries he judges “unfriendly” unless they pay in roubles.

Even at the height of the Cold War, Moscow never cut gas to Europe, but on Thursday, Putin signed a decree ordering foreign buyers to pay in roubles instead of euros from April 1 or face going without Russian supplies.