FUJAIRAH, (Pakistan Point News - 01st Jul, 2020) Oil products stockpiles at the UAE's East Coast port of Fujairah fell to a seven-week low as of 29th June, capping the first monthly decline since March.
Total stocks dropped 5.7 percent over the week to 29th June, at 28.495 million barrels, the biggest weekly decline since 20th April, according to data released today by the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, FOIZ.
The total was down 7.2 percent for June, after swelling 17 percent in May and 7.7 percent in April, data compiled by S&P Global Platts showed. Platts is the official publisher of the inventory data, which began in January 2017.
Stockpiles had set three record highs in May alone and another high in June, as signs of demand destruction from the global pandemic hit transportation fuels from gasoline to marine gasoil and jet fuel. Driving activity in recent days in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is back to levels before the virus in January, according to mobility data from Apple. Emirates and Etihad Airways resumed passenger flights in June as the UAE eased travel restrictions.
"Economies are picking up so the consumption is there," said Malek Azizeh, commercial director of Fujairah Oil Terminal, on a Gulf Intelligence webinar today. Azizeh also added that Fujairah Oil Terminal is looking to finalise plans to connect its entire terminal, including crude oil tanks, to the VLCC jetty -- Matrix Manifold 2 of Port of Fujairah -- and to add about 10 percent of existing storage capacity for oil products within the next two years. The investment could be US $80 million to US $100 million, he said.
Stocks of light distillates, including gasoline and naphtha and other light petrochemical feedstocks, dropped 4 percent over the latest week at 7.919 million barrels, bringing the decline to about 7 percent for June. That was the first monthly drop since March.
Middle distillates, also including gasoil, diesel, marine bunker gasoil and kerosene, tumbled 19 percent at 4.102 million barrels, the lowest since 20th April. Stocks plunged 32 percent for June after more than doubling over the previous two months.
Heavy distillates and residues fell 3 percent over the latest week at 16.474 million barrels. The category, which covers fuels used for power generation and bunkers, was the only one to show increased stockpiles in June at a gain of 1.9 percent, the second consecutive monthly advance.
