SINGAPORE: Asia’s cash premiums for jet fuel slipped on Friday, but posted a second consecutive weekly gain, while the prompt-month time spread for aviation fuel remained in steep backwardation.

Cash differentials for jet fuel were at a premium of $2.82 a barrel to Singapore quotes, compared with $3.60 per barrel a day earlier. The premiums have surged about 48% this week.

The March/April time spread traded at $7.90 per barrel on Friday, compared with $11.50 a barrel on Thursday. The spread, however, has widened over 73% this week.

Global jet fuel prices have surged to near 14-year highs this week, slamming air carriers and travellers with steep cost increases just as air travel was starting to recover from COVID-19 restrictions.

Refining margins, or cracks, for jet fuel dropped to $14.26 per barrel over Dubai crude on Friday, down from Thursday’s $25.77 a barrel, and drifting away from a record high of $36.04 per barrel hit on Wednesday.

Cracks for the benchmark 10 ppm gasoil grade in Singapore dropped to $22.16 a barrel over Dubai crude during Asian trading hours, compared with $35.77 per barrel a day earlier. The gasoil cracks too touched an all-time high of $44.04 per barrel on Wednesday.

Gasoil stocks held independently in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp refining and storage hub dropped 1.7% to 1.6 million tonnes in the week ended March 10, according to Dutch consultancy Insights Global.

Gasoil stocks fell as demand up the Rhine River slightly increased, Insights Global’s Lars van Wageningen said.

ARA jet fuel inventories fell 2.5% this week to 836,000 tonnes. No jet fuel trades, no gasoil deals. Oil prices rose on Friday but were on track for their biggest weekly declines since November after see-sawing on fears of escalating bans on Russian oil versus efforts to bring more supply to market from other major producers.

Oil majors BP and Shell have not offered spot diesel cargoes for sale on the German market for the last two weeks, for fear of a supply shortage, two traders said on Thursday.