Residual fuel oil stocks at key trading hub Singapore fell to a four week-low amid a drop in weekly net imports, official data showed this week.

Onshore fuel oil stocks were 12% lower at 20.20 million barrels (3.18 million tonnes) in the week ended Oct. 12, Enterprise Singapore data showed.

Net imports were at 592,000 tonnes, declining by 14% from the previous week and hovering below September’s weekly average of 599,000 tonnes.

The largest net import volumes were from Malaysia at 268,000 tonnes, the United Arab Emirates at 130,000 tonnes and Brazil at 95,000 tonnes.

Meanwhile, top destinations for Singapore’s fuel oil net exports were China at 60,000 tonnes, Mozambique at 35,000 tonnes and Madagascar at 15,000 tonnes.

But steady arrivals of fuel oil at Asia could contribute to regional inventory build-ups, or cap the extent of inventory drawdowns in the coming weeks.

October fuel oil flows into East Asia, most of which are bound for Singapore, are expected to match September’s 17-month high of about 5.70 million tonnes, Refinitiv Oil Research said this week.

Fuel oil flows have been at 3.87 million tonnes so far in October, led by higher arrivals of cargoes from the West as Russian barrels continued to dominate the flows, latest weekly assessments by Refinitiv showed.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)