FUJAIRAH DATA: Oil product stocks drop to two-week low

Stockpiles of oil products at the UAE's Port of Fujairah dropped 7.7% in the week ended Nov. 27 to a two-week low, according to data from the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone.

The total fell to 17.406 million barrels as of Nov. 27, the FOIZ data published Nov. 29 showed. The total stockpile is now down 16% since the end of 2022.

Middle distillates such as jet fuel and diesel was the only product category to show gains for the week, jumping 23% to 2.656 million barrels, the highest in four months. Heavy distillates used as fuel for power generation and for shipping dropped 15% to 9.513 million barrels, a two-week low, while light distillates such as gasoline and naphtha fell 4.4% to 5.237 million barrels, a three-week low.

Refined products exports averaged 5.5 million barrels in the week started Nov. 20, more than double in the prior week, according to Kpler shipping data. Fuel oil shipments surged to 3.5 million barrels from 874,000 barrels a week earlier. Some 747,000 barrels of fuel oil were destined for the US, the most in a year, while a record 860,000 barrels were headed for Sri Lanka, the data showed.

The Fujairah-delivered low sulfur fuel oil bunker premium hit a 10-month high on Nov. 28, buoyed by limited supplies and relatively stable demand, traders said.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed the Fujairah-delivered marine fuel 0.5%S bunker premium over the benchmark FOB Singapore marine fuel 0.5% sulfur cargoes at $25.57/mt, the highest since Jan. 13. The premium has surged about 32% in the last two weeks and has more than doubled since the end of October.

Heavy distillates stockpiles are now down 5.9% so far in 2023, light distillates have dropped 30% while middle distillates have declined 14% over the same period.