- Kuwait marks first 2021 spot buy gasoline tender
- Emirates airline may need more jet fuel
- Most product prices fell over past week
Oil product stockpiles at the UAE’s Port of Fujairah rebounded to a two-week high after a slowdown in exports of fuel oil and gasoil, reports Platts.
Oil stockpiles rebound
The total inventory stood at 21.641 million barrels as of July 12, up 2.2% from a week earlier, according to data released on July 14 by the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ).
Heavy distillates and residues including fuel oils for power generation and marine bunkers climbed 6% to 11.712 million barrels, a two-week high, and middle distillates such as jet fuel and gasoil rose 1.9% to 3.727 million barrels, also a two-week high.
The jet fuel stocks will be needed as Emirates airline said July 14 it expects “high passenger volumes” at Dubai International airport over the July 16-17 weekend ahead of the Eid holiday. Traveler numbers are expected to reach among the highest levels since the pandemic began, it said.
Fujairah prices decline
Fujairah product prices, including gasoline, kerosene, gasoil and high sulfur fuel oil, declined over the week to July 13, according to S&P Global Platts assessments. But there were few signs the lower prices spurred demand.
Fuel oil exports from Fujairah for the week started July 5 amounted to just 1.01 million barrels, the lowest since April 19, according to commodity data company Kpler.
Stockpiles of light distillates bucked the trend and declined 4.1% in the week to 6.202 million barrels as of July 12, a three-week high, according to the FOIZ data, which is provided exclusively to Platts.
Gasoline has firm demand from both the Middle East and South Asia, sources said. Fujairah was set to import 640,000 barrels of gasoline from Saudi Arabia in the week started July 5, and export another 160,000 barrels of gasoline to the kingdom over the same period, according to the Kpler data.
“Cargoes are being taken from the Middle East. China slashed its gasoline import volumes for July and the volumes that usually head from China to Pakistan are now being taken from other sources in the Middle East,” an industry source said.
Jebel Ali
An example of such a cargo flow can been seen with the medium-range vessel Bora Bora, having been placed on subjects to load gasoline mid-July for a Fujairah to Colombo voyage, while the MR vessel Leon Apollon was also placed on subjects to load gasoline July 20 from Jebel Ali, with discharge at either Khor Al Zubair, Iraq, or Pakistan, shipping sources said.
Demonstrating the uptick in gasoline import demand in the Middle East as well, state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp is seeking 35,000 mt of 91 RON gasoline for delivery over Aug. 5-16 from Mina al-Ahmadi via a spot tender that closes on July 15, Platts reported earlier.
According to open tenders seen by Platts, the tender is KPC’s first gasoline spot buy tender this year, with the last gasoline spot tender seen in November 2020.
Light distillate exports from Fujairah for the week started July 5 were set to be the lowest since May 24, while middle distillate shipments including gasoil have yet to bounce back to the levels of mid-June, according to the Kpler data.
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Source: Platts
