Oil product stockpiles at the UAE’s Port of Fujairah dropped to a two-week low led by a decline in heavy distillates as low prices spurred demand for ship fuel, says an article published in Platts.
Fujairah LSFO
The total inventory was 18.197 million barrels as of March 21, down 1.8% from a week earlier and the lowest since March 7, according to Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ) data released on March 23.
Stockpiles are down 5.3% since this time last year, led by a 48% plunge in middle distillates such as jet fuel and diesel.
Heavy distillates used as fuel oil for power generation and for marine bunkers dropped 6.2% in the week to March 21, to 10.126 million barrels, a three-week low. Fujairah LSFO suppliers were keen to move output because demand has been weak, traders said.
Marine fuel 0.5%
In addition, local refineries have faced limited supplies of components for low sulfur fuel oil blending, sources said. High tanker freight rates have increased the cost of imports, curbing the availability of blending components, they said.
Premiums of Fujairah-delivered marine fuel 0.5% against the benchmark FOB Singapore marine fuel 0.5% S cargo assessments averaged $43.14/mt March 21-22, compared with $50.42/mt the week prior, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights data.
Fujairah product exports for week started March 10 were led by fuel oils, followed by gasoline, according to Kpler data. Some 100,000 barrels of jet fuel were also destined for Seychelles for the week, the first jet fuel export since Jan. 17, the data showed.
Stocks of light distillates including gasoline and naphtha stood at 6.282 million barrels as of March 21, up 3.9% from a week earlier and the most in three weeks. Middle distillates stocks also climbed to a three-week high, up 5% to 1.789 million barrels.
Light distillates have dropped 17.9% since this time last year while heavy distillates have climbed 24.95%.
All 13 terminals at Fujairah provide the inventory data to the Fujairah Energy Data Committee, part of FOIZ, which in turn provides the data exclusively to S&P Global Commodity Insights.
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Source: Platts
