SINGAPORE: Asia’s 10 ppm sulphur gasoil margins were little changed on Tuesday amid limited spot market activity and overall steady fundamentals, even as oil futures remained volatile.

Refining margins closed the session at $31.29 a barrel. Cash differentials for 10 ppm sulphur gasoil went up slightly to $1.69 a barrel.

Jet fuel refining margins saw limited volatility and were at $30.39 a barrel. Demand remained strong for the aviation fuel in the region, with inquiries for January and February cargoes aplenty especially from regional importers.

Some inquiries were heard for the West amid an open arbitrage to the US west coast, but exact discussion details could not be confirmed. Regrade was at minus $0.90 a barrel, down by 10 cents.

US stockpiles of crude oil and distillates were expected to have fallen last week, whereas gasoline inventories were seen rising, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday.

Six analysts polled by Reuters estimated on average that crude inventories fell 2.4 million barrels in the week to Jan. 6. Distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, were expected to have decreased by about 100,000 barrels last week.

India’s fuel demand reached a nine-month high in December, helped by strong industrial activity and a rise in gasoline consumption due to an uptick in passenger vehicle sales.