Singapore’s middle distillates stockpiles slipped for the fourth consecutive week on a surge in net exports of both gasoil/diesel and jet fuel/kerosene, official data showed on Thursday.

Inventories of gasoil/diesel and jet fuel/kerosene at key oil storage hub Singapore were at 8.641 million barrels in the week ended Dec. 13, down by around 2.6% from the week earlier, data from Enterprise Singapore showed.

Net exports for all fuels rose week-on-week, with gasoil/diesel net exports posting gains of slightly more than 87% and net exports of jet fuel/kerosene rising by more than three times.

On the gasoil/diesel total export front, Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia remained the key contributors for this week’s outflows.

Volumes to Indonesia were likely to continue into the near term leading into January next year given some scheduled refinery maintenance at some major units in the country, one trade source said.

Exports to Sri Lanka and some regions in the Pacific were also notable.

Import-wise, China-origin cargoes remained prevalent, in line with earlier expectations – although levels may dip nearing the end of the month given lower export estimates.

So far only one diesel cargo of around 47,000 metric tons from China is bound for Singapore in December-loading, ship-tracking data from Kpler showed.

Net exports of jet fuel/kerosene also rose slightly above 75,000 tons, tracking gains in total exports, contributing to the decline in overall stockpiles.

Volumes to the Pacific region, amid seasonal peak demand season there during summer, and Sri Lanka were the key contributors for the week, the data showed.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Trixie Yap; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)