Refining losses from producing fuel oil in Asia are poised to narrow as imports from western countries and Iran decline while global economic growth boosts demand for transportation fuels. Cargoes of the ship and power-station fuel cost an average $10.20 a barrel below Dubai crude this month, the largest monthly discount since April 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That gap , known as the crack spread, will narrow to minus $8 a barrel in the first quarter of 2014, according to the median estimate in a survey of five analysts and traders. A recovery in fuel oil, which refiners typically produce at a loss after making gasoline and diesel, will help boost margins at companies including South Korea ’s S-Oil Corp. (010950) and Royal Dutch Shell Plc. (RDSA) Iran, once the second-biggest supplier to China , has cut exports by 67 percent compared with […]