Singapore shipping fuel premium spikes to more than two-year high

[SINGAPORE] The Singapore 380-centistoke shipping fuel oil premium spiked to a more than two-year high on Thursday as credit lines from sellers were withdrawn amid prompt demand from buyers desperate for alternative fuel.

The premium stood at US$14.02 a tonne above cargo prices. The last time it was higher was the US$14.12 in February 2012, Reuters data showed.

Fuel oil trading activity has slowed sharply in Singapore after the collapse of the world's largest supplier, OW Bunker, which filed for bankruptcy on Friday.

"Now is a good time to have more oil to sell. Ship owners in the interim will be looking to buy to cover the shortfall from OW's deliveries. I think right now, it's a sellers' market," one Singapore-based fuel oil trader said.

REUTERS