SINGAPORE:Asia’s front-month crack for 0.5% very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) fell on Thursday as crude prices surged to multi-year highs, while cash premiums for the marine fuel grade edged higher.

The front-month VLSFO crack was at $19.48 a barrel against Dubai crude during Asian trading hours, down from $19.60 a barrel on Wednesday.

Cash differentials for Asia’s 0.5% VLSFO rawled up 3 cents to a premium of $16.64 a tonne to Singapore quotes on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Asia’s cash premiums for 380-cst high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) rose to $1.01 per tonne to Singapore quotes on Thursday, up from 92 cents per tonne a day earlier.

Singapore’s onshore fuel oil stocks dropped 11.4% to 21.4 million barrels, or 3.2 million tonnes, in the week to Feb. 23, according to the Enterprise Singapore data.

Weekly fuel oil inventories have averaged 22.4 million barrels so far this year, compared with the weekly average of 22.5 million barrels in 2021, Reuters calculations showed. Onshore fuel oil inventories were 4.8% higher compared with year-ago levels.

EDP Renewables (EDPR), the world’s fourth-largest renewable energy producer, said on Thursday it plans to invest up to S$10 billion ($7.40 billion) by 2030 to establish a clean energy hub in Singapore for the Asia Pacific region.

EDPR, which is 75% owned by Portugal’s biggest utility Energias de Portugal, closed a S$1 billion deal to acquire a 91% stake in Southeast Asian renewables firm Sunseap Group on Thursday.