SINGAPORE: Asia’s refining margins for 180-cst high sulphur fuel oil edged down on Thursday, as inventories at the Singapore hub rose to a two-week high.

The front-month crack for 180-cst HSFO was at a discount of $25.67 per barrel at the Asia close (0830 GMT), compared with a discount of $23.63 on Wednesday.

The 180-cst HSFO cash differential was at a discount of $3.77 per tonne to Singapore quotes on Thursday, while the 380-cst HSFO cash differential was at a discount of $0.73 per tonne.

The front-month 0.5% VLSFO crack stood at $15.31 per barrel at the Asia close (0830 GMT) on Thursday, up from $13.46 in the previous session.

Residual fuel oil stocks at key trading hub Singapore rose 3% week-on-week, amid an increase in weekly net imports, official data showed on Thursday. Onshore fuel oil stocks were at 22.90 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 5, or 3.61 million tonnes, Enterprise Singapore data showed.

Oil prices stabilised near three-week highs on Thursday after OPEC+ agreed to further tighten global crude supply with a deal to slash production by about 2 million barrels per day, the largest reduction since 2020.

Concerns over tight oil supplies and soaring inflation have intensified after the OPEC+ group of nations announced its largest supply cut since 2020 ahead of European Union embargoes on Russian energy.