Singapore fuel oil inventories slip from 16-month high on lower net imports

Singapore

SINGAPORE fuel oil inventories slipped to a two-week low in the week ended May 1, down from a 16-month high in the week before, amid lower weekly net import volumes, official data released on Thursday showed.

Onshore fuel oil stocks slipped 3 per cent, or 755,000 barrels (about 113,000 tonnes), from the previous week to 23.576 million barrels, or 3.519 million tonnes, data from Enterprise Singapore showed.

Singapore fuel oil stocks hit a 16-month high of 24.331 million barrels, or 3.631 million tonnes, in the week to April 24.

Net fuel oil imports in the week to May 1 were down 13 per cent from the previous week to a two-week low of 565,000 tonnes, and were below the 2019 weekly average of 752,000 tonnes. Weekly figures like these, however, are volatile.

This week's onshore fuel oil inventories were 33 per cent higher than a year earlier.

Singapore's net exports of fuel oil to China topped 41,000 tonnes in the week ended May 1, followed by Japan at 39,000 tonnes and the United States at 34,000 tonnes. The largest net imports into Singapore originated from Saudi Arabia at 117,000 tonnes, followed by Malaysia at 115,000 tonnes, Thailand at 86,000 tonnes and the United Arab Emirates at 84,000 tonnes.

Singapore's imports of fuel oil from Saudi Arabia were at a more than five-month high in the week to May 1.

Fuel oil inventories in Singapore have averaged 21.079 million barrels a week, or 3.146 million tonnes, in 2019, compared with 18.93 million barrels, or 2.825 million tonnes, in the previous year. REUTERS