SINGAPORE: Asia’s 10-ppm sulphur gasoil margins were mostly steady as stronger buying interest for physical cargoes cancelled out the impact of softer oil futures on Tuesday.

Buying interest improved, as evidenced from the numerous bids in the afternoon trading session, as some participants believed the market to have bottomed out in the short run.

Cash differentials went up $0.72 a barrel, tracking an early April deal.

Gains in jet fuel refining margins were slower than gasoil, with the regrade widening again to a discount of $3.10 a barrel.

US crude oil stockpiles were seen rising last week, while a decline was expected in distillate and gasoline inventories, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday. Distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, were expected to have decreased by about 1.2 million barrels last week.

Oil prices dropped more than $2 a barrel on Tuesday, extending the previous day’s slide, as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank rattled equities markets and sparked fear about a fresh financial crisis.

Western sanctions on Russian and Iranian oil have channelled cheap fuel to Asia and in the process eroded a decades-long trend whereby the continent has paid more for energy than Europe, according to traders, analysts and Refinitiv Eikon data.

China’s diesel exports could fall to an eight-month low in March as refiners focus on meeting local demand and increasing domestic stockpiles ahead of planned overhauls at refineries, a Reuters survey showed.

Sales of marine fuel, also known as bunkers, fell to an 8-month low in February at the world’s top bunkering hub Singapore as demand softened, latest official data showed on Tuesday.

More than a third of operators at TotalEnergies’ French refineries and depots were on strike Tuesday morning as the strike against the government’s planned changes to its pension system continued for the seventh day, a company spokesperson said. Reuters