SINGAPORE: Asia’s 10 ppm sulphur gasoil and jet fuel margins hit fresh lows as crude oil futures surged and fundamentals remained poor for both fuel products.

Thin liquidity and gains in outright physical prices cushioned overall market weakness, as evidenced from the lack of activity in the open market - with sellers nowhere in sight. Cash differentials fell slightly to $1.31 per barrel, with only a handful of buyers hoping to buy competitively-priced cargoes.

Regrade narrowed to a discount of $2.55 a barrel for May, signifying the slight strength in forward market fundamentals for jet fuel - although some market participants expect this to change soon. Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ oil producers on Sunday announced further oil output cuts of around 1.16 million barrels per day, in a surprise move that analysts said would cause an immediate rise in prices and the United States called inadvisable.