Singapore’s middle distillates inventories were little changed from a week earlier, gaining by only 67,000 barrels, as a rise in diesel/gasoil net exports was offset by a decline in jet fuel/kerosene net exports, official data showed.

The stockpiles of diesel/gasoil and jet fuel/kerosene at key oil storage hub Singapore were at 8.454 million barrels for the week ended July 10, compared with 8.387 million barrels in the previous week.

Net exports of diesel/gasoil gained by more than two times week on week, aided by large decline in total imports, of around 82% week on week.

Arrival volumes were absent this week from key suspects China and Saudi Arabia, contributing to the decline.

India-origin cargoes, however, resurfaced after a two-week hiatus, with traders attributing it to the shaky arbitrage east-west seller margins in these two months.

At least 60,000 metric tons of diesel/gasoil are expected to be bound for Singapore in the next two weeks from India, Kpler shiptracking data showed.

Diesel/gasoil imports were also prevalent from South Korea and Malaysia for the week, though volumes were significantly softer from a week earlier.

China-origin cargoes are expected to resurface in the next two weeks as majors there find it more lucrative to target the export market since two weeks ago, after regional gasoil refining margins rebounded, two sources said.

So far around 87,000 tons are bound for Singapore from China for July, Kpler shiptracking data showed.

On the total exports front for diesel/gasoil, volumes fell by around 32% week on week, given the drop in volumes to Indonesia, but volumes to key regional destinations such as Malaysia and Australia rose.

For jet fuel/kerosene, net exports declined by almost 55% week on week, with the 44% drop in total exports being the key driver.

Total imports, on the other hand, fell slightly by 5% week on week.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Trixie Yap; editing by Jason Neely and Sonia Cheema)