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FUJAIRAH DATA: Oil product stockpiles slump to 3-month low

Oil product stockpiles at the UAE’s east coast port of Fujairah dropped to a three-month low, dragged by the biggest drop in heavy distillates since October after fuel oil exports surged in February.

Total inventories stood at 20.838 million barrels as of March 1, down 10% from a week earlier and the lowest since Nov. 30, according to March 3 data from the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone. S&P Global Platts is the exclusive publisher of the data since January 2017.

Heavy distillates including fuel oil for power generation and marine bunkers came at 9.572 million barrels on March 1, down 13% from a week earlier and the biggest weekly drop since Oct. 12. Fuel oil exports from Fujairah in all of February averaged 375,000 b/d, the highest since the record 406,000 b/d in September 2019, according to Kpler data. The list of destination countries for the month was led by Malaysia, Singapore and Saudi Arabia.

Light distillates including gasoline and naphtha were at 7.143 million barrels on March 1, the lowest in three weeks and down 12% from a week earlier.

Gasoline exports picked up, with two cargoes, totaling about 820,000 barrels, loaded from Fujairah for Pakistan in the week started Feb. 22, the most since June 2020, according to Kpler. Shipments for the week were also headed for Saudi Arabia, Iraq and a record 511,000 barrels to Togo.

More gasoline may be heading out, as South Africa’s Engen tendered for 35,000 mt of 95 RON gasoline, Platts reported March 2. The tender stipulated that loading could be either over March 10-12 from the Mediterranean or over March 22-24 from the Persian Gulf or Singapore/Malaysia.

African demand for motor fuel has seen a notable uptick lately, with South African and West African buyers actively seeking cargoes to fill in supply gaps domestically. Cargoes to West Africa, in fact, have been picked up from Asia, with at least four long-range vessels set to load gasoline from Asia.

From South Africa, the tighter availability of cargoes from Mediterranean sources has pushed buyers to seek cargoes from the Middle East and India, industry sources said.

Middle distillates including diesel and jet fuel rose to 4.123 million barrels as of March 1, up 1% from a week earlier and the first gain in four weeks.

The stockpiles figures are sent from terminal operators to the Fujairah Energy Data Committee, a department of FOIZ. All commercial terminal operators present in Fujairah participate in the weekly stock reporting, as requested by FOIZ. A total of 11 terminals are participating, including storage volumes involved in activities such as blending and refining, according to FOIZ.
Source: Platts

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