SINGAPORE: Cash premiums for cargoes of Asia's high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) extended gains on Thursday, buoyed by firm demand in the Singapore trading window and expectations of increased consumption from utilities.

Cash premiums 180-cst HSFO hit a more than nine-month high of $4.41 a tonne to Singapore quotes, while premiums for cargoes of 380-cst HSFO climbed to a near five-month high of $3.20 a tonne.

This came as Singapore residual fuel oil inventories fell 2% in the week ended Aug. 4 to a more than four-month low as net import volumes remained depressed, official data showed on Thursday.

Onshore fuel oil stocks fell by 466,000 barrels, or about 73,000 tonnes, to 22.44 million barrels, or 3.53 million tonnes, Enterprise Singapore data showed.

While Singapore's net fuel oil imports recovered from a more than three-year low of 93,000 tonnes in the previous week, to 436,000 tonnes, they were well below the 2021 weekly average of 700,000 tonnes. Weekly figures, however, are volatile. Compared with a year earlier, residual fuel stocks were 7% higher and above the 2021 weekly average of 23.25 million barrels.

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