NEW DELHI: Spot premiums for Asia’s very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) rose by about 16% this week, as inventories at key trading hubs declined, and a volatility in crude benchmarks supported prices.

The cash differential for 0.5% VLSFO rose by 25 cents to $5.23 a tonne on Friday.

The 180-cst HSFO cash differential was steady at $6.31 a tonne, while the 380-cst HSFO cash differential dipped by 17 cents to $6.47 a tonne.

According to FGE estimates, Fujairah fuel oil stocks dropped towards the historical range for the second week in a row, by 1.4 million barrels due to lower demand for bunker fuel and are just 0.3 million barrels above the range. Stocks also declined at ARA, Japan and the US, while only Singapore inventories registered a rise.

Oil prices firmed on Friday as a meeting between Saudi Arabia and Russia calmed markets and after support measures stabilised a banking crisis that set oil prices on course for their biggest weekly fall since December.