SINGAPORE: Asia’s cash premiums for jet fuel climbed on Wednesday as traders expect the regional aviation market to remain supported in the near term with airlines increasing capacity in the coming days.

Cash premiums for jet fuel rose to $4.32 a barrel to Singapore quotes, compared with $3.92 per barrel a day earlier.

The June/July time spread for jet fuel in Singapore traded at 4.90 a barrel on Wednesday, 80 cents wider from Tuesday, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

Refining margins, also known as cracks, for jet fuel dropped for the first time in seven sessions to $38.81 per barrel over Dubai crude during Asian trade as prices of raw material crude firmed on Wednesday.

Crude oil prices rose on Wednesday after European Union leaders agreed to a partial and phased ban on Russian oil and as China ended its COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai.

The jet fuel cracks, which were at $39.43 a barrel on Tuesday, have gained nearly 33% in the last two weeks as international aviation demand has picked up pace ahead of summer travel.

Meanwhile, cracks for the benchmark 10 ppm gasoil grade in Singapore eased to $46.34 per barrel over Dubai crude on Wednesday, dropping from an all-time high of $50.23 touched in the previous session.

Middle-distillate inventories in the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone rose 9.9 to a more than three-month high of 2.5 million barrels in the week ended May 30, data via S&P Global Commodity Insights showed.

This week’s stocks, however, were about 34% lower compared with the corresponding week last year.

Weekly stocks in Fujairah have averaged 1.8 million barrels so far this year, compared with 3.5 million barrels in 2021, Reuters calculations showed.

A scorching rally in US energy shares has left investors facing a tough decision: hold on despite growing worries that global growth will slow or lock in profits in one of the few areas of the stock market that has thrived this year.