Asia Fuel Oil — Markets pare slightly; hi — five crunches week on week

SINGAPORE, Oct 16 (Reuters) — Asia markets for both very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) and high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) eased marginally on Friday, while the hi-five spread narrowed week on week. Market sources said that supplies for VLSFO were sufficient into the rest of the month and into early next month. This has in turn capped the strength in spot premiums. HSFO has seen indications of returning tightness in supplies as Middle East hostilities escalated recently, while demand from North Asian refiners was said to be robust.

Reflecting a more supported HSFO market, the November hi-five spread narrowed to about $81 a metric ton on Friday, down over 25% from the previous week. Cracks also eased after recent gains. The 380-cst HSFO/Brent crack closed at about $13.50 a barrel, LSEG data showed at the Asia close. Meanwhile, VLSFO's crack held steadily above $26 a barrel on Friday.

Bunker Data Bunker fuel sales at the United Arab Emirates' Fujairah port rose slightly in September after a dip in August, latest Fujairah Oil Industry Zone data published by S&P Global showed. Monthly sales held steady above 200,000 cubic metres for a third consecutive month, but stayed well below levels seen before the Iran war. Inventory Data - Singapore residual fuel stockpiles fell 3.4% to 18.04 million barrels (2.84 million tons) in the week to October 14, Enterprise Singapore data showed. - Fujairah heavy fuel inventories fell 30.3% to 3.29 million barrels (0.52 million metric tons) in the week to October 12, FOIZ data published by S&P Energy showed.

- Fuel oil inventories in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) hub rose 2.2% to 938,000 tons in the week to October 15, Dutch consultancy Insights Global data showed. Other News - Oil prices eased on Friday but were heading for weekly gains on uncertainty over Middle East supplies and a larger-than-expected draw from US crude stockpiles, while European diesel margins dropped following the IEA's decision to release more diesel. O/R - A resumption of hostilities around the Strait of Hormuz is supporting high-sulphur fuel oil premiums as supplies remain tight on lower exports from the Middle East and Russia while bunker demand stays robust, Vitol's Asia head said.

- The US-Israeli war on Iran has altered bunker buying patterns for shippers globally as they turned to more spot and shorter-term purchases to cope with volatile prices while exploring more alternative locations for supply security, industry executives said. - Shippers' appetite for lower-carbon marine fuels weakened this year as the fate of a regulatory emissions framework from the International Maritime Organization remained cloudy while some are using carbon credits, industry executives said.

Window Trades O/AS - 180-cst HSFO: No trade - 380-cst HSFO: No trade - 0.5% VLSFO: No trade Assessments Fuel Oil CASH ($/T) ASIA CHANGE PREV RIC CLOSE CLOSE Cargo — 180cst 863.94 51.89 812.05 Diff — 180cst 50.35 0.21 50.14 Cargo — 380cst 854.45 50.67 803.77 Diff — 380cst 48.80 -0.60 49.40 Cargo — 0.5% VLSFO 870.15 26.02 844.13 Diff — 0.5% VLSFO 23.50 -1.42 24.92 For a list of derivatives prices, please refer to ENSWAP/INFO or the RICs below: 180cst M1 180cst M1/M2 380cst M1 380cst M1/M2 0.5% VLSFO M1 0.5% VLSFO M1/M2 Cracks 180cst-Brent M1 Cracks 180cst-Dubai M1 Cracks 380cst-Brent M1 Cracks 380cst-Dubai M1 Cracks 0.5% VLSFO-Brent M1 Cracks 0.5% VLSFO-Dubai M1 Visco 180cst/380cst M1 Hi-5 0.5% VLSFO/380cst M1 GoFo 10PPM/0.5% VLSFO M1 East-West M1 Barges M1 Barges M1/M2 Crack Barges-Brent M1 (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh;) ((mailto:jeslyn.lerh@thomsonreuters.com)