SINGAPORE: Asia’s front-month crack for 0.5% very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) rose to their strongest level in over a week on Friday, while traders expect the market to remain tight through the end of this month.

The front-month VLSFO crack rose to $14.62 per barrel against Dubai crude during Asian trade on Friday, the strongest since Dec. 2. The crack was at $13.60 per barrel a day earlier, and has gained nearly 1% this week.

Cash differentials for Asia’s 0.5% VLSFO rose to a premium of $15.42 a tonne to Singapore quotes on Friday, compared with $15.30 per tonne on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Asia’s cash differentials for 380-cst high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) were at a premium of $1.36 per tonne to Singapore quotes on Friday, compared with a premium of $1.22 per tonne in the previous session.

The 380-cst HSFO barge crack for January remained unchanged from Thursday to trade at a discount of $12.34 a barrel to Brent on Friday, posting a 2% dip this week, Refinitiv data showed.

Fuel oil stocks held independently in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub slipped 8.2% to 1.2 million tonnes in the week to Dec. 9, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

The data showed ARA gasoil inventories rose 6.3% to 1.9 million tonnes.