Asia’s spot market for high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) recovered slightly on Thursday, while onshore residual inventories in Singapore eased but remained high, data showed.

The cash differential for 380-cst HSFO was pegged at a narrower discount day-on-day, with some bids firming into the later dates of November.

Demand from China and India for Russian HSFO remained uncertain for the short to medium term, following the latest slew of sanctions targeted at Russian oil barrels.

For now, Singapore market recovery remains capped by high inventories. Onshore stockpiles for residual fuels dipped this week but held at levels above average.

As for sales tenders, India’s BPCL offered a cargo of HSFO for loading in November, via a tender that closes on Friday, based on market sources.

Meanwhile, cracks traded in mixed directions. November VLSFO crack (LFO05SGBRTCMc1) fell to a premium closer to $5 a barrel, while 380-cst HSFO crack (FO380BRTCKMc1) rose to a discount of about $3.85 a barrel, data compiled by LSEG showed.

INVENTORY DATA
– Singapore residual fuel inventories (STKRS-SIN) fell to 23.03 million barrels (about 3.63 million metric tons) in the week to October 22, down 8.1% from the previous week, Enterprise Singapore data showed.

OTHER NEWS
– Oil prices jumped more than 3% on Thursday, as India buyers started reviewing their Russian oil purchases after the U.S. imposed sanctions on major suppliers Rosneft and Lukoil over the Ukraine war.
– EU countries approved a 19th package of sanctions against Russia for its war against Ukraine that includes a ban on Russian liquefied natural gas imports, the Danish rotating presidency of the EU said on Wednesday.
– Several suppliers have cancelled sales of Middle Eastern and Canadian oil to China’s Yulong Petrochemical after the UK imposed sanctions on the refiner, which is likely to push it to buy more Russian crude, sources familiar with the deals said.
– Indian refiners are poised to sharply curtail imports of Russian oil, industry sources said on Thursday, following new U.S. sanctions on two major Russian producers aimed at squeezing Moscow’s revenue to fund its war in Ukraine.

WINDOW TRADES
– 180-cst HSFO: No trade
– 380-cst HSFO: No trade
– 0.5% VLSFO: No trade
Source: Reuters