FUJAIRAH DATA: Oil product stocks slump to three-month low

Stockpiles of oil products at the UAE's Port of Fujairah fell to a three-month low as of June 17 after a surge in exports of naphtha and other light distillates, according to Fujairah Oil Industry Zone and ship-tracking data.

Total inventories fell 15% to 17.630 million barrels in the week ended June 17, the lowest since Feb. 19, FOIZ data published June 19 showed. Stockpiles have increased 1.7% since the end of 2023.

Stocks of light distillates declined almost 19% on the week to 6.796 million barrels, the lowest this year. Fujairah's exports of refined products except for fuel oil surged to 6.9 million barrels in the week started June 10, the most since the end of April and up from 3.7 million barrels a week earlier, according to S&P Global Commodities at Sea ship-tracking data. Clean products dominated the shipments at 4.3 million barrels, followed by gasoil and naphtha. The top destinations were Malaysia, Singapore and China.

Heavy distillate inventories fell almost 13% to a two-month low of 8.776 million barrels in the latest week. Fujairah exported 415,000 barrels of fuel oil in the week started June 10, with all of it destined for Kuwait, according to CAS ship-tracking data.

Stocks of middle distillates such as diesel and jet fuel slipped 13% to a 12-week low of 3.058 million barrels.

Dated Brent

Low sulfur fuel oil demand for shipping was steady on the week, but gains in feedstock Brent crude prices may start to erode buyer interest, market participants said. The Platts-assessed Dated Brent was $85.28/b on June 18, up from $75.92/b on June 5, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights data.

"[The market] might be slow if Brent is going to hover at 83-84ish or firm up," a trader said.

The Platts-assessed Fujairah-delivered marine fuel 0.5% sulfur bunker premium over benchmark FOB Singapore marine fuel 0.5%S cargo averaged $10.50/mt this month through June 18, little changed from $10.23/mt in May, Commodity Insights data showed.

High sulfur fuel oil demand is stronger than available supplies at the port, traders said. A slowdown in demand is "unlikely" for at least the next few weeks, a Fujairah-based bunker supplier said.

The Platts-assessed Fujairah-delivered 380 CST HSFO bunker premium over the FO 380 CST 3.5% FOB Arab Gulf cargo averaged $30.73/mt this month through June 18, down from $38.59/mt in May, according to Commodity Insights data. The premium was assessed at $30.88/mt on June 18.

HSFO bunker sales, which totaled 163,893 cu m in May, jumped 29.5% on the year despite a 4.6% decline from April, FOIZ data published June 15 showed.

So far since the end of 2023, stocks of light distillates have climbed 24%, heavy distillates have dropped 13% and middle distillates have risen 22%.