Singapore Fuel Oil Inventories Slip Amid Rare Exports

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  • Singapore’s residual fuel oil inventories slipped 0.1 per cent in the week to June 24, inching away from a more than three-year high hit the week before.

Singapore’s residual fuel oil inventories fell 1% in the week ended Jan. 13, reflecting a slight decrease in net import volumes and steady bunker fuel demand, reports Reuters.

Fuel oil stocks dip

Onshore fuel oil stocks slipped 34,000 barrels, or about 5,000 tonnes, to 26.596 million barrels, or 4.188 million tonnes, in the week ended Wednesday, according to the Enterprise Singapore data.

Residual fuel stocks were 16 per cent higher from a year-earlier period. Net import volumes were 20 per cent lower from the previous week to a four-week low of 555,000 tonnes in the week to June 24 and were near the 2020 weekly average of 700,000 tonnes. Weekly figures, however, were volatile.

For the week, the largest net imports into Singapore were Malaysia’s 309,000 tonnes, followed by Brazil with 125,000 tonnes, the United States with 91,000 tonnes and Bahrain with 88,000 tonnes. Singapore fuel oil imports from Bahrain were at their highest since at least December 2015, or as far as available data goes.

First ever export to Saudi

Most of Singapore’s net fuel oil exports sailed to Hong Kong at 63,000 tonnes, followed by 44,000 tonnes to China and 38,000 tonnes to Saudi Arabia. For the first time in at least 4-1/2 years, or as far as the data goes, Singapore was a net exporter of fuel oil to Saudi Arabia.

The Kingdom typically exports residual fuel outside of the summer months to countries including Singapore and imports fuel oil for power generation, primarily from regional suppliers, during the hot summer months.

Fuel oil inventories in the neighboring Fujairah storage and bunkering hub hit a record high of 17.168 million barrels, or 2.704 million tonnes, earlier this month amid weak exports and limited bunker demand.

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Source: Reuters