FUJAIRAH DATA: Refined products stockpiles drop for sixth consecutive week

Dubai — Oil products stockpiles at the UAE's Fujairah refining and trading complex dropped for a sixth consecutive week, matching the longest drop on record as gasoline was shipped to India for the first time since March.

Stockpiles as of Oct. 5 stood at 20.698 million barrels, down 1.3% from a week earlier and the lowest since Jan. 13, according to a report Oct. 7 from the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, or FOIZ.

Stockpiles have only once before dropped six weeks in a row, in 2017, according to the inventory data provided exclusively to S&P Global Platts since January 2017.

Inventories of light distillates, such as gasoline, dropped 3.4% to 6.278 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 5, a four-week low, according to the FOIZ data.

The Astir Lady is currently discharging about 310,000 barrels of gasoline at Mundra, India, loaded from Vopak Fujairah in the week starting Sept. 28, according to Kpler. It is the first and biggest gasoline shipment from Fujairah to India since March, Kpler data showed.

Indian state-owned refiners Indian Oil Corp. and Bharat Petroleum Corp. have emerged in the spot market after months-long absence as demand for the motor fuel soars amid lagging refinery production, S&P Global Platts previously reported.

Iraq also took 550,000 barrels of gasoline from Fujairah in the week starting Sept. 28, the most in three months, Kpler data showed. Another 806,000 barrels of gasoline from Fujairah were bound for West Africa and Cape Town, according to Kpler.

Stockpiles of middle distillates such as gasoil and diesel tumbled 11% in the week ended Oct. 5 to 3.863 million barrels, a three-week low, according to the FOIZ data. Some 129,000 barrels of gasoil were destined for Yemen from Fujairah in the week starting Sept. 28 while 331,000 barrels of diesel headed for Mauritius, according to Kpler.

Inventories of heavy distillates and residues such as marine bunkers and fuel for power climbed 4% to 10.557 million barrels.