On Thursday, official data showed that Singapore’s residual fuel oil stockpiles slipped due to soaring export volumes.
In the week ended August 12, residual fuel oil inventories dropped by 2% on a monthly basis but still jumped by 21% on a yearly basis. According to Enterprise Singapore data, onshore fuel oil stockpiles slumped by 417,000 barrels or 66,000 tonnes at 23,817 million barrels of 3.751 mt. It was the lowest in two weeks.
The surging exports drove the lower inventories. In the period, exports of residual fuel oil rose to 445,000 tonnes, the highest since mid-February. The average weekly exports this year is 278,000 tonnes.
In turn, net imports nosedived by 83% week-over-week to more than a two-month low of 242,000 tonnes. In comparison, the 2020 weekly average is 680,000 tonnes.
The country’s top fuel oil importer was Saudi Arabia at 57,000 tonnes. Bangladesh and Hong Kong followed suit by purchasing 44,000 tonnes and 41,000 tonnes, respectively.
Meanwhile, Singapore bought the most residual fuel from Iraq with 107,000 tonnes, along with Russia’s 105,000 tonnes. Bahrain and Brazil followed suit by selling 84,000 tonnes and 66,000 tonnes.
