NEW DELHI – Oil product inventories held in Asia’s key fuel trading hub Singapore declined to a three-week low, government data showed on Oct 22, driven by a fall in middle and light distillate stocks.
Combined onshore oil product inventories were at 38.134 million barrels in the week ended October 21, Enterprise Singapore data showed.
Light and middle distillates fall
Light distillate inventories, including naphtha and petrol, fell to a three-week low of 10.971 million barrels in the week, the data showed.
Naphtha total imports fell about 29% on week to around 122,000 metric tons (~1.09 million barrels), as no shipments from the Middle East or India arrived. The top supplier was Russia at 74,000 tons, followed by Malaysia at 44,000 tons. Singapore did not export naphtha in the week.
Petrol imports tanked by about 61% to 125,000 tons (about 1.06 million barrels) during the period, while exports climbed about 49% on week to roughly 724,000 tons.
Outbound petrol volumes were led by Malaysia at about 180,000 tons, followed by Indonesia at around 166,000 tons. Petrol inflows were led by China at nearly 77,000 tons.
Meanwhile, stockpiles of middle distillates retreated in the week to Oct 21, after hitting near six-month highs in the previous week, the data showed.
Inventories of diesel and jet fuel fell 20% week on week to 8.31 million barrels, hitting a four-week low.
Looking ahead, diesel exports from north-east Asia, particularly from South Korea, are expected to remain firm going into November amid steady spot sales volumes, traders said.
Residual fuel stocks rebound
Singapore’s residual fuel inventories rebounded for the first time after sliding for six consecutive weeks, the data showed.
Residual fuel stockpiles rose 4.5% week on week to 18.86 million barrels (2.97 million tons) in the week to Oct 21, though remaining below September’s average of 19.89 million barrels a week.
Total fuel oil imports into onshore tanks rose 74.9% to above 965,000 tons in the week, with the UAE as the top supplier, followed by Thailand and Brazil.
Meanwhile, total exports more than tripled to over 440,000 tons, with most of the volumes headed for China.
East Asia appears to be amply supplied in October, with higher volumes coming from most key exporting regions, LSEG shipping data showed, though some trade sources said that high freight costs may hamper arbitrage flows in the coming months. REUTERS
