SINGAPORE: The market for Asia’s 0.5% very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) gained on Friday amid signs of persistent shortages due to tight crude supplies and as refiners focus on increasing output of higher value refined fuels.

Friday’s gains helped the VLSFO market recoup recent losses, ending the week on a slightly firmer note.

Residual fuel inventories at the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) storage hub were little changed at a four-week high this week, while those in the Singapore and Fujairah hubs rose, industry data showed.

Fuel oil stocks in the ARA refining and storage rose 2,000 tonnes to 1.17 million tonnes in the week ended Jan. 6, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global (IG) showed.