SINGAPORE – Oil product inventories held in Singapore, Asia’s trading hub, hovered near 13-year lows for a second week on softer light distillates and steady residual stocks. However, middle distillates stocks jumped, official data showed on June 18.
Onshore oil product stocks totalled around 35.26 million barrels in the week ending June 17, rebounding slightly from 34.41 million barrels the previous week, Enterprise Singapore data showed.
Oil stocks have mostly dwindled globally since the US-Iran war started, due to a lack of cargo outflows from the Strait of Hormuz and a drawdown of existing inventories.
Singapore light distillate inventories, including naphtha and gasoline, fell to a two-week low of about 12 million barrels.
Net gasoline exports sharply outpaced imports, with strong outbound flows to Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia and Mexico draining stocks.
Total gasoline exports stood at about 572,000 tonnes in the week, far exceeding imports of roughly 233,000 tonnes, with Indonesia taking about 320,000 tonnes. Inflows from India and Taiwan totalled 118,000 and 71,000 tonnes, respectively, but they failed to offset the drawdown.
Naphtha inventories climbed as imports of about 155,000 tonnes exceeded exports of around 20,000 tonnes, with cargoes from Russia at 54,000 tonnes and Norway at 26,000 tonnes outweighing outbound shipments to Malaysia at about 20,000 tonnes.
Residual fuel inventories were little changed after sliding to nearly an eight-year low last week. The stockpiles inched up 1.0 per cent to about 15 million barrels (2.36 million tonnes), a level way below average.
Total imports of heavy distillates continued to slip, with volumes totalling about 517,000 tonnes, down 1.3 per cent from the previous. Most inflows were from the US, amid strong arbitrage arrivals in Asia over recent weeks.
Meanwhile, exports climbed 66.2 per cent to more than 481,000 tonnes. Key outlets were Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Middle Eastern supplies have remained largely constrained to date, though Asian fuel oil markets have plummeted as trade sources eyed a gradual resumption of Hormuz flows.
Spot fuel oil premiums have fallen back to pre-war levels this week.
Middle distillates stocks, which mainly include diesel and jet fuel, jumped by more than 1.3 million barrels week-on-week, despite rising net exports.
Diesel and gasoil net exports rose 21 per cent from a week earlier.
Key import contributors were South Korea, Malaysia, and Taiwan, while exports were mainly directed to regional destinations, including Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Vietnam.
June imports are slated to hit a two-month high, according to Kpler data, with two swing cargoes from the Middle East and India expected to arrive in the coming week.
For jet fuel, net exports surged by more than 80 per cent week on week, tracking the 25 per cent decline in imports. REUTERS
