Asia’s high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) market retreated on Tuesday after a short-lived rebound lately, with prompt offers softening into January.

Singapore’s 380-cst HSFO cash differential was pegged at a discount wider than $4 a metric ton, softening day-on-day after some competitive offers emerged. The differential had recovered to more than a month’s high in the previous session.

Meanwhile, the market for very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) remained somewhat inactive in recent sessions as trading has quietened seasonally.

The broader Asia market remains pressured by ample supply inventories, with some sellers still trying to clear stocks amid lukewarm demand from both bunkering and feedstock sectors.

Cracks were largely rangebound from the previous day, with VLSFO hovering steadily near a premium of $4.40 a barrel, while 380-cst HSFO crack rose slightly to a discount near $7.25 a barrel, based on data by LSEG.

REFINERY UPDATES

– State-owned Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company restarted its 205,000-barrels-per-day crude distillation unit at its Al Zour Refinery on December 13, nearly a month later than initially expected, industry monitor IIR said on Monday.

OTHER NEWS

– Oil prices rose on Monday in Asia trade as concerns over potential disruptions from escalating U.S.-Venezuela tensions outweighed lingering oversupply worries and the effects of a potential Russia-Ukraine peace deal.

– Russia is considering an extension of diesel and gasoline export restrictions until February, state news agencies reported on Monday, citing anonymous sources.

– Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA has been subject to a cyberattack, it said on Monday, adding its operations were unaffected, even though four sources said systems remained down and oil cargo deliveries were suspended.

– The volume of Venezuelan oil already headed to China before the U.S. seized a tanker off the South American country’s coast last week, plus a glut of crude in storage and weak demand, will limit the near-term impact of the move in the Chinese market, traders and analysts said.

WINDOW TRADES

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