Cash premium for 380-cst high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) extended declines on Friday, hitting more than five-month lows.

The premium was pegged below $4 a metric ton as offers softened further from the previous day.

The market has taken a softer turn since the start of the month as it moves into the second-half October laycan, which is expected to see more supply replenishment headed to Asia

India’s HPCL offered more HSFO for loading in October via a tender that closes on Friday.

Cash premiums for very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) also dipped on Friday, closing slightly above $6 a ton.

Meanwhile, VLSFO cracks closed at premiums of about $13.25 a barrel while 380-cst HSFO cracks FO380DUBCKMc1 closed at discounts of around $9 a barrel.

INVENTORY DATA

– ARA inventories STK-FO-ARA were stable at 1.37 million tons in the week to Oct. 3, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

OTHER NEWS

– Oil prices rose further on Friday and were on track for strong weekly gains as investors weighed the prospect of a wider Middle East conflict disrupting crude flows against a well-supplied global market.

– The U.S. is discussing strikes on Iran’s oil facilities as retaliation for Tehran’s missile attack on Israel, President Joe Biden said on Thursday, while Israel’s military hit Beirut with new air strikes in its battle against Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

– Spain’s crude oil imports from Venezuela have this year reached levels not seen since 2009, according to data released on Friday by Cores, an arm of Spain’s energy and environment ministry.

– U.S. dock workers and port operators reached a tentative deal that will immediately end a crippling three-day strike that has shut down shipping on the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast, the two sides said Thursday.

Source: Reuters reported by Jeslyn Lerh and edited by Shreya Biswas