SINGAPORE: Asian refining margins for 10 ppm gasoil inched higher on Monday as feedstock crude prices fell, while cash differentials for the industrial fuel grade rose amid active buying interests for physical cargoes.

Refining margins, also known as cracks, for 10 ppm gasoil rose 20 cents to $30.51 a barrel over Dubai crude during Asian trading hours on Monday, following a 15% gain last week.

Cash premiums for gasoil with 10 ppm sulphur content climbed to $7.57 a barrel to Singapore quotes on Monday, up from $7.35 a barrel at the end of last week.

The April/May time spread for 10ppm gasoil traded at $8.12 a barrel on Monday, compared with $8.50 per barrel on Friday, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

President Joe Biden will meet virtually with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, the White House said, at a time when the United States has made clear it does not want to see an uptick in Russian energy imports by India.

Lured by steep discounts following Western sanctions on Russian entities, India has bought at least 13 million barrels of Russian crude oil since the country invaded Ukraine in late February. That compared with some 16 million barrels for the whole of last year, data compiled by Reuters shows.