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DJ ASIA FUEL OIL: Prices Lower; MRPL Offers May-Oct HSFO(Comtex Business Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)SINGAPORE, Apr 05, 2006 (Dow Jones Commodities News via Comtex) --Asia fuel oil prices were lower Wednesday, in tandem with overnight losses in crude futures. BP returned to the cash market, and bought 20,000 metric tons of 180 cst fuel oil for April 20-24 loading from Vitol at a premium of $3.00/ton over the Singapore mean. Shell submitted a bid for 20,000 tons of 180 cst fuel oil for April 25-29 or May 1-5 loading at a premium of $3/ton over the Singapore mean, but the bid went untested. Although BP, Shell were still trying to support prices, what they can do is limit the downside of fuel oil futures, instead of bidding prices up further, said traders. "Just have a look at the upcoming heavy inflow. I don't expect their (pricing) activity to persist too long," said a trader. The physical price of 180 cst fuel oil was assessed at $336.40/ton, down $2.70/ton from Tuesday. Fuel oil swaps in Singapore also fell, with April swaps for 180 cst fuel oil down $2.25/ton to $335.00-$335.25/ton. The April-May spread was at a backwardation of $4.875/ton, wider than Tuesday's $4.50/ton. In tender news, India's Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemical Ltd. issued a tender offering six 80,000-ton 380 cst fuel oil cargoes for May-October loading. The tender will close April 12, and will remain valid until April 13. MRPL last sold 80,000 tons of 380 cst fuel oil for April 22-26 loading to Mitsui Oil Asia at a discount of $2-$3 to the Singapore mean. Meanwhile, Indian Oil Corp. issued a tender to offer 30,000 tons of 180 cst fuel oil for April 26-30 loading. The tender will close April 11 and will remain valid until April 12. This is the second tender from IOC in a week. So far, Indian refineries have offered a total of 195,000 tons of fuel oil for April loading. In Vietnam, Saigon Petroleum bought 5,000 tons of 180 cst fuel oil for May loading at a premium of around $25/ton over the Singapore mean. The volume was lower than the planned 15,000 tons. Petrolimex was heard to have bought three 34,000-ton 180 cst fuel oil cargoes for April 23-29, May 13-19, and May 22-28 loading from BP at a premium of around $7/ton over the Singapore mean. Discussions over the six other cargoes for the second quarter were still under way, said another trader. Petrolimex's tender was welcomed by traders as the market is bracing for another supply glut. Quite a few companies have submitted their offers, the trader said. -By Sherry Su, Dow Jones Newswires; 65-64154065; [email protected] -Edited by Tracy Gan (END) Dow Jones Newswires 04-05-06 0644ET |