FUJAIRAH DATA: Oil product stocks soar 16%, biggest jump in more than two years

Oil product inventories at the UAE's Port of Fujairah climbed 16% in the week to May 31, the biggest increase since the first week of 2019, with gains posted in all categories, showed Fujairah Oil Industry Zone data provided exclusively to S&P Global Platts on June 2.

The total stood at 23.694 million barrels on May 31, with fuels used for power generation and marine bunkers at 14.65 million barrels, up 23% from a week earlier, according to data compiled by Platts since January 2017. Light distillates climbed 2% over the week to May 31 and middle distillates jumped 13%.

Oil product exports from Fujairah for the week started May 24 were only 2.76 million barrels, the lowest since November 2020, according to commodity data company Kpler.

Only 1.53 million barrels of fuel oils were scheduled for export during the period, the lowest since March 29. India was one of the only destinations at 405,000 barrels -- the first fuel oil shipment to the country since mid February. Both Sri Lanka and India were also scheduled destinations for clean products.

Even with the stockpile gains, total inventories stood at only a four-week high and are well below the record 30.71 million barrels set on June 1, 2020. They were also little changed for the year after closing 2020 at 23.595 million barrels.

Stocks of light distillates such as gasoline and naphtha stood at 5.225 million barrels as of May 31, a two-week high, and middle distillates such as jet fuel and gasoil were at 3.819 million barrels, a three-week high.

Heavy distillates, which cover the fuel oils, stood at a four-week high on May 31. They are the only category showing a gain this year -- up a whopping 31% since the end of 2020 -- while middle distillates are down 24% and light distillates have dropped by 29%.