FUJAIRAH, (Pakistan Point News - 03rd Jul, 2019) Oil product stockpiles at the Fujairah trading hub on the UAE’s East Coast fell to the lowest level this year, led by double digit declines in medium and heavy distillates amid reports of increasing demand, according to data released Wednesday by the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, FOIZ.
Total inventories declined 7.2 percent over the past week to 18.58 million barrels as of Monday, 1st July, the lowest since 31st December, 2018. It was the fifth consecutive week on week drop, the longest stretch of declines since May 2017. Stockpiles of heavy distillates and residues, including marine fuel, dropped 10 percent for the week. Stocks for middle distillates -- which include gasoil, diesel, marine bunker gasoil, jet fuel and kerosene -- plunged 24 percent on the week.
The Port of Fujairah, outside the Strait of Hormuz, is close to the site where four vessels were attacked in May. While bunker traders had recently told S&P Global Platts that some shippers were avoiding the port, traders in Fujairah last week were cited by Platts as saying that buying inquiries were picking up.
Traders in Singapore, the world's biggest bunkering hub, also pointed to a slight recovery in their delivered bunker demand against a backdrop of a tighter fuel oil supply outlook for July and August, Platts reported earlier.
Inventories of heavy distillates dropped to 9.835 million barrels, the lowest since 11th March. Middle distillates stockpiles declined to 1.545 million barrels, the lowest since 28th January.
Stockpiles of light distillates bucked the trend, and rose 1.9 percent for the week to 7.196 million barrels. The category includes products such as gasoline, naphtha and condensates.
S&P Global Platts is the official publisher of the Fujairah data. Fujairah has the Middle East's largest commercial storage capacity for refined products.
