Oil Stockpiles Set for Biggest Annual Decline After Small Weekly Rise

Oil product stockpiles at the Port of Fujairah on the UAE’s east coast are heading for the biggest calendar year drop on record after rising 6.3% in the week ended Dec. 20, according to data from the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone provided exclusively to S&P Global Platts.

Biggest decline since 2017

Total inventories stood at 16.273 million barrels on Dec. 20, a three-week high led by a 24% surge in gasoline and other light distillates, according to the data released Dec. 22. That left the total down 30% for 2021, heading for the biggest decline since Platts began compiling the data in 2017. Last year, stockpiles rose 27%, the most on record, as the pandemic crippled demand.

Inventories have declined across the board so far this year as demand has rebounded, led by a 58% plunge in jet fuel, gasoil and other middle distillates after rising 35% in 2020.

Light distillates are heading for a 29% decline this year and heavy distillates including fuel oil for power generation and marine bunkers are down 20.5% since the end of 2020.

Weekly distillate gains

• In the week ended Dec. 20, the 24% jump in light distillates to 5.228 million barrels was the biggest weekly gain in 10 weeks to the highest since Nov. 15.
• Middle distillates stood at 2.129 million barrels, down 7.3% from a week earlier. Traders have been sending gasoil to Sri Lanka for the past two weeks, the first such shipments to the country since December 2020, according to Kpler shipping data.
• Heavy distillates rose 1.2% in the week ended Dec. 20 to 8.916 million barrels, the first increase in three weeks.