Key facts
- Asia's HSFO refining margin was a $2.29 a barrel discount on Thursday, November 5, 2026, versus a $5.34 premium on Monday, per LSEG data cited by Reuters.
- UAE fuel oil exports to Singapore and Malaysia reached about 729,000 metric tons in October, an eighth-month high, per Kpler data cited by Reuters.
- The November Dubai contract traded about $2 a barrel below December at the start of the week, traders and brokers told Bloomberg on Tuesday.
- High shipping costs are reducing European fuel oil supply to Asia, according to traders.
Asia's high-sulfur fuel oil refining margin fell to a discount of $2.29 a barrel on Thursday, November 5, 2026, from a premium of $5.34 a barrel on Monday, Reuters reported, citing LSEG data. The move came in a week when the outcome of the U.S. midterm elections boosted hopes of de-escalation in the Middle East, which could allow more oil products to move out of the Strait of Hormuz, according to the report.
Supply of fuel oil from the Middle East to Asia has improved. Fuel exports from Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates bound for Singapore and Malaysia rose to an eighth-month high of about 729,000 metric tons in October, according to Kpler data cited by Reuters. Traders said high shipping costs were reducing European fuel oil supply to Asia.
The Dubai benchmark's price curve showed rising crude flows from the Middle East exceeding demand for the first time since early July, when a three-week U.S.-Iran ceasefire allowed millions of barrels to leave the Strait of Hormuz unhindered, the report said. Physical flows have risen gradually for two months as Gulf producers accelerated shuttle-shipping through Hormuz with ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman once tankers cleared the chokepoint. The November Dubai contract traded at the start of the week at a discount of about $2 a barrel to the December contract, traders and brokers told Bloomberg on Tuesday, a structure known as contango.