SINGAPORE, June 4 (Reuters) - Asia's fuel oil market weakened further on Monday, with the
prompt physical market weakening for a fourth-straight session, amid plunging underlying Brent
crude prices.
Cash premium for 180-censtistoke (cst) fell $1.15 to $4.70 a tonne, the lowest in two weeks,
while the 380-cst premium lost 50 cents to a one-week low of $1.75 a tonne.
The weaker crude prices have kept the physical market relatively active, with two 180-cst
and one 380-cst deals done.
Last month's bull player, oil major BP, has turned to the sell side, offloading two
180-cst cargoes to Shell and Vitol at $4.00 a tonne above Singapore spot quotes.
Vitol also picked up the 380-cst parcel from PetroChina at $1.50 a tonne to Singapore spot
quotes.
Traders said that current market strength, propped up mainly by BP and Brightoil's
month-long bull play, has started to come off.
Reflecting the weakness, the front-month June/July inter-month spread lost almost $2.00 to
close at $3.25 a tonne, the lowest in two weeks.
Activity in the swaps market was relatively quiet, with only 50,000 tonnes of the June/July
contract traded. More interests were seen for the July/August spread, with at least 140,000
tonnes traded at $2.00-$2.75 a tonne.
Despite the plunge in prices on Monday, the downside is limited as slightly lower volumes of
Western imports are expected for June.
Demand for fuel oil is also expected to climb in the peak summer season as power-generation
needs rise. Japan's fuel oil domestic sales jumped 78.5 percent to 2.27 million kilolitres in
April from March.
Fuel oil demand in Japan is likely to increase further as the country copes with hotter
weather this summer while its nuclear power plants remain idle.
TENDERS/SPOT
ISSUER BUY/SELL GRADE VOL ('000T) LAYCAN CLOSE (VALID)
India/IOC Sell 380cst 30 July 3-5 (Chennai) June 7 (June 8)
CASH TRADES
Grade Seller Buyer Vol Laycan Price
(Transaction)
180cst BP Vitol 20KT June 21-25 MOPS +$4.00
180cst BP Shell 40KT June 19-23 MOPS +$4.00
380cst PetroChina Vitol 20KT June 20-24 MOPS +$1.50