Cash premium for Asia’s very-low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) was steady on Monday after easing last week, but an anticipation of rising flows this month amid muted trade in physical markets since mid-May weighed on market sentiment.

The premium for 0.5% VLSFO (MFO05-SIN-DIF) slipped to $7.06 a tonne over Singapore quotes from $7.13 a day earlier.

Analysts said there is an expectation of rising supplies from Al-Zour as issues at its second crude distillation unit (CDU) get sorted.

“KPC announced it will ramp up throughput at CDU 3 over June. The anticipated prompt inflow of VLSFO volumes will hinder arbitrage flow from Europe into Asia,” analysts at consultancy Energy Aspects said in a note.

The high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) market remained little changed on Monday. The 380-cst HSFO premium closed at $4.33 a tonne over Singapore quotes.

WINDOW TRADES

– 180-cst HSFO: No trade

– 380-cst HSFO: No trade

– 0.5% VLSFO: No trade

NEWS

– Bangladesh is seeking 95-octane gasoline, gasoil with 0.005% sulphur content and marine fuel with 0.5% sulphur content for the July-December period, the Bangladesh Petroleum Corp (BPC) said in a tender notice on its website on Monday.

The country is seeking 60,000-80,000 tonnes of the higher 95-octane grade of gasoline, 1.1-1.2 million tonnes of gasoil and 30,000 tonnes of marine fuel for the period, BPC said.

– PetroChina’s 601857 Lanzhou refinery will shut down its whole plant for two-months of planned maintenance, starting from June 10, the refinery said in a statement on social media.

The refinery, located in the northwestern Chinese province of Gansu, has 210,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) of crude oil processing capacity.
Source: Reuters