FUJAIRAH DATA: Oil product stocks rebound from 10-month low

Inventories of oil products at the UAE's Port of Fujairah climbed 8.6% in the week ended Aug. 19, with middle distillates such as jet fuel and diesel soaring 56%, according to Fujairah Oil Industry Zone data.

Total stocks rose to 17.876 million barrels, the first increase in five weeks from a 10-month low a week earlier, FOIZ data published Aug. 21 showed. Stockpiles have increased 3.1% since the end of 2023.

Middle distillates led the gains, reaching a five-week high of 2.793 million barrels. Light distillates, including gasoline and naphtha, climbed 18% to a three-month high of 7.281 million barrels.

Heavy distillates used for power generation and as ship fuel were the outlier, falling 8.3% to 7.802 million barrels, the lowest since Feb. 14, 2022, according to FOIZ data compiled by S&P Global Commodity Insights since January 2017. The record low for heavy distillates was 4.84 million barrels on Feb. 26, 2018.

The Fort Energy refinery at Fujairah, which produces low sulfur fuel oil for shipping, has faced "fluctuations in production over time due to a variety of usual operational and market factors," but will be increasing production, 51% owner Montfort Group said in a statement in early August.

Dar Blend

The 65,000-b/d crude processing facility has used Chad's Doba Blend and South Sudan's Dar Blend. Damage to South Sudan's only export pipeline through Sudan has kept tens of thousands of barrels offline.

Moreover, ship fuel demand has been steady, and high winds lately have delayed refueling for some ships, traders said.

The Platts-assessed Fujairah-delivered marine fuel 0.5% sulfur bunker premium over benchmark FOB Singapore Marine Fuel 0.5%S cargo averaged $15.21 per metric ton over Aug. 19-20, up from $12.24/t in the week ended Aug. 16, according to Commodity Insights data.

The LSFO bunker premium rose 88 cents/t on Aug. 20 to a five-week high of $15.65/t.

There are some fuel oil shipments heading to Fujairah by the end of this month, which may help to rebuild heavy distillates stockpiles, traders said.

Oil product exports from Fujairah totaled 2 million barrels in the week started Aug. 12, the lowest since the July 1 week, according to Kpler data. Fuel oils were the only shipments, split between Singapore and China, the data showed.

So far since the end of 2023, stocks of light distillates have jumped 55%, heavy distillates have dropped 23% and middle distillates have climbed 11%.