FUJAIRAH DATA: Oil product stocks fall after middle distillates plunge 33%

Oil product stockpiles at the Port of Fujairah on the UAE’s east coast dropped for the first time in three weeks led by a 33% decline in middle distillates following a pickup in gasoil shipments.

The total inventory was 15.684 million barrels as of Oct. 11, down 6.2% from a week earlier and close to the record low of 14.998 million barrels set Sept. 20, according to Fujairah Oil Industry Zone data provided exclusively to S&P Global Platts on Oct. 13. Middle distillates such as gasoil, jet fuel and diesel plunged 33% to 2.588 million barrels, the lowest since April 2020, while heavy distillates used for power generation and marine bunkers dropped 13% to 7.083 million barrels, a two-week low.

Some 1.5 million barrels of gasoil was set to be shipped out of Fujairah in the week started Oct. 4, the most since July, with a record 750,000 barrels headed for Jordan, according to commodity data company, Kpler. Indonesia was also set to get its first gasoil shipment this year from Fujairah, while traders have been moving gasoil lately to Yemen.

Barges at Fujairah were loading fuel oil out of inventories to fill orders delayed by Cyclone Shaheen, which hit Oman just south of Fujairah on Oct. 3, traders said. That left low sulfur fuel oil stocks limited, they said.

“Buyers had inquired for prompt delivery dates, hoping to beat the queue amid the congestion due to the backlog,” a Fujairah-based bunker supplier said. Premiums of Fujairah-delivered marine fuel 0.5%S over benchmark FOB Singapore marine fuel 0.5%S cargo assessments averaged $5.06/mt during the week ended Oct. 8, up from an average of $2.42/mt during the week prior, Platts data showed. It averaged $4.53/mt over Oct. 11 and Oct. 12, the data also showed.

Light distillates inventories, including gasoline and naphtha, jumped to 6.013 million barrels on Oct. 11, up 28% from a week earlier and the highest in 11 weeks.

Total inventories are down 24% from this time last year, led by a 33% decline in both middle distillates and heavy distillates. Light distillates were down less than 1% over the same period.
Source: Platts