VLSFO premium dips in largely quiet market

Spot premium for very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) dipped on Tuesday as offers softened, while the broader market was broadly quiet due to a lack of fresh triggers.

The Singapore cash premium dipped closer to $6 a metric ton, while backwardation traded at lower levels day-on-day. Cracks for the product continued to hover at premiums of about $11 a barrel, LSEG data showed. (LFO05SGDUBCMc1), (LFO05SGBRTCMc1)

Meanwhile, high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) recovered slightly, though the spot market still held in discounts.

A few trades emerged for HSFO, while the contango narrowed day-on-day between the prompt months. HSFO cracks were stable near discounts of $2 a barrel. (FO380DUBCKMc1), (FO380BRTCKMc1)

In tenders, India's HPCL offered three cargoes of HSFO for loading in August from Vizag, based on industry sources.

REFINERY UPDATES

- BP's 440,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Whiting, Indiana, on Monday reported flaring due to operational conditions, the company said.

OTHER NEWS

- Oil prices retreated on Tuesday, having climbed almost 2% in the previous session, as investors assessed the latest developments on U.S. tariffs and a higher than expected increase to OPEC+ output for August.

- The Trump administration on Monday wound down a license allowing shipments of liquefied petroleum gas to Venezuela's state energy company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, the U.S. Treasury Department said.

- India's southern state of Kerala has sued Swiss-based Mediterranean Shipping Company and sought $1.1 billion in compensation after one of its container vessels sank and leaked fuel into the Arabian Sea in May.

- At least two crew members were wounded and two were missing following an attack by Houthi militants on a Greek-managed cargo ship off Yemen on Monday, hours after the Iran-aligned group said an earlier assault had sunk another bulk carrier in the Red Sea.

WINDOW TRADES

- 180-cst HSFO: Two trades

- 380-cst HSFO: Two trades

- 0.5% VLSFO: No trade

ASSESSMENTS