Asia fuel oil: 180-cst HSFO in steady discounts as consistent supplies weigh

SINGAPORE: The spot 180-cst high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) market traded at steady discounts on Wednesday, while stable supply arrivals weighed on the broader fuel oil market.

Trafigura bought a 20,000-tonne cargo of 180-cst HSFO from PetroChina at a discount of $3 a tonne to Singapore quotes, and another 20,000-tonne cargo from Total at a discount of $2.50 to Singapore quotes.

Meanwhile, the 0.5% very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) market held in stable premiums amid thin trade.

A stream of VLSFO offers continued to emerge but buying interest was scent. The market’s spot cash differential was at a premium of $7.80 a tonne to Singapore quotes on Wednesday.

Stable downstream bunker fuel demand provided a floor to the VLSFO market. Bunker fuel premiums on a delivered basis held at about $30 a tonne to Singapore quotes, traders said.

Residual fuel oil stocks at Fujairah fell by 3% to 10.06 million barrels (1.58 million tonnes) in the week ended Jan. 9, showed data from the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone published by industry information service S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Oil prices were broadly steady on Wednesday as market participants were pulled in different directions by an unexpected build in US crude and fuel inventories, global economic uncertainty and China reopening its economy.

China’s CNOOC Ltd has set its 2023 production target at a record 650 million to 660 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), about 8% above last year’s goal.

Trafigura has sold its 24.5% stake in Russia-backed Indian refiner Nayara Energy to a Rome-based energy investment group, following on from a deal on Monday where a group of firms backed by the trading company agreed to buy Lukoil’s Italian refinery.

Chevron Corp’s first cargo of Venezuelan crude under a US license received in November has departed from a ship-to-ship transfer hub near Aruba to its Pascagoula, Mississippi refinery, according to shipping data seen by Reuters on Tuesday.