NEW DELHI: Asia’s spot fuel oil premiums for high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) advanced on Wednesday after stocks at Fujairah hub declined.

The 180-cst HSFO cash differential jumped by $1.48 to $5.66 a tonne, while the 380-cst HSFO cash differential rose to $7.04 a tonne.

At the Singapore trading window, energy trader P66 was back to purchase 180-cst high sulphur grade.

Analysts at FGE noted that any overhang of Russian high sulphur residue was mopped up by strong Chinese buying for use as a secondary feedstock.

“It needs to be pointed, however, that the likes of China and India will not always be around to snap up Russian residue cargoes. Intermittent buying patterns would increase volatility into the Asian HSFO crack,” they said in a note.

Fuel oil stocks at the Fujairah trading hub dropped by 1.474 million barrels to a three-week low of 19.407 million barrels in the week to March 13, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Oil storage demand and transit volumes are poised to grow further at the United Arab Emirates’ Fujairah port this year as Russian trade flows continue to flood the hub, while latest price caps on Russian petroleum products have a mild impact on trade, industry executives said on Tuesday.