SINGAPORE: Asia’s refining margins for 10 ppm gasoil rose on Thursday, amid a muted trading window, after stocks in the Singapore hub dropped to a two-week low.

Refining margins for 10 ppm gasoil rose to $38.63 a barrel over Dubai crude in Asian trading hours, compared with $35.54 on Wednesday.

Cash differentials for gasoil with 10 ppm sulphur content were at a premium of $0.54 a barrel to Singapore quotes, down from $0.62 per barrel in the previous session.

US distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 2.2 million barrels last week, government data showed, compared with analysts’ estimates of a drop by about 0.7 million barrels in a Reuters poll.

Singapore stocks of middle distillates fell 964,000 barrels to a two-week low of 7.402 million barrels in the week to Aug. 10, official data showed. No gasoil trades, no jet fuel deals.

Oil prices steadied on Thursday after the International Energy Agency raised its oil demand growth forecast for this year as soaring gas prices drive some consumers to switch to oil.