US Gulf Coast middle distillate shipments due to arrive in Europe in May amount to about 230,000 mt so far, with around 190,000 mt bound for Northwest Europe and 40,000 mt for the Mediterranean, data from S&P Global Platts trade flow software cFlow showed Monday.

Price differentials for Far East Russia's Sokol crude have flipped to premiums for the first time in two months amid improved market sentiment and ongoing supply cuts, market sources told S&P Global Platts on Monday.

Hong Kong imported 4.08 million barrels of fuel oil in March, up 7.2% from February but down 16.5% year on year, data released Monday by Hong Kong's Census and Statistics Department showed.

Mediterranean ultra-low sulfur diesel cargoes strengthened to a 18-month high versus Northwest European ULSD cargoes Thursday as demand picks up in the south amid strongly reduced refinery output, while in the North the impact of increasing consumption has been partly offset by the huge amount of product in floating storage.

The European fuel oil market was expected to see support this week from demand in the end-user bunkers market -- as shipping operations remained ongoing, sources said.

The middle distillate swaps complex saw a glimpse of blue skies ahead as prompt differential swap values soared over the last week on the back of lockdowns across Europe starting to ease.

Asia's low sulfur residual fuel market is expected to trade in a narrow range with no major upside expected in the near term.

The Fujairah port on the UAE's eastern coast handled 8% more bunkers in April over the year earlier, the first increase in 2020, Fujairah Oil Tanker Terminals or FOTT said in its monthly activity report.