Singapore fuel oil inventories rebound; imports rise, exports drop

Residual fuel oil stocks at key trading hub Singapore rebounded from three weeks of declines, as imports gained and exports fell in the week to Oct. 18, official data showed on Thursday.

Onshore fuel oil inventories climbed 7.9% to 19.39 million barrels (3.05 million metric tons), hitting three-week highs, data from Enterprise Singapore showed.

This came as weekly net fuel oil imports – calculated by subtracting total exports from total imports – recovered by 55% to 943,000 tons.

Malaysia was the top origin for net fuel oil import volumes at 279,000 tons, the data showed.

This was followed by the United Arab Emirates at 217,000 tons, though the volumes eased compared to last week.

Imports from Estonia recorded a rare climb, hitting 203,000 tons, though these are likely Russian barrels, based on trade sources and shipping data.

Meanwhile, China was the top destination for net fuel oil exports out of Singapore as with last week.

However, exports to China were at 29,000 tons in the week to Oct. 18, compared to 100,000 tons in the previous week.

Other top export destinations were New Zealand and Vietnam. However, total fuel oil exports out of Singapore dropped 63% week-on-week.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Varun H K)