SINGAPORE- Inventories of middle distillates in storage at key trading hub Singapore edged lower as gasoil imports fell week on week, official data showed on Thursday.
Stock levels for gasoil and jet fuel/kerosene were at 7.477 million barrels (1.004 million tons) on May 10, compared with 7.786 million barrels a week earlier, data from Enterprise Singapore showed.
Total imports for gasoil fell by about 53 percent to approximately 60,000 tons.
Below are the week’s top import contributor countries for gasoil and their respective volumes (in tons): Import volumes from China were minimal for the fifth consecutive week, with this trend expected to continue.
Asian gasoil exports for April contracted sharply from March and were well below the first-quarter monthly average, led by a steep fall in Chinese exports and outflows from several other North Asian producers because of refinery maintenance amid shrinking gasoil margins, said Refinitiv Oil Research said.
Total exports for gasoil out of Singapore were up about 57 percent week on week at around 347,000 tons.
In jet fuel/kerosene, meanwhile, total imports rose while total exports fell week on week.
The value of Singapore’s oil trade in 2022 climbed by 47.5 percent from a year earlier, extending a 43.6 percent increase in 2021, driven mainly by rising domestic exports and re-exports of refined products, government agency Enterprise Singapore said on Monday.
The rise in the oil trade value came in a year when global oil prices rallied after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reshaped energy markets and oil majors reaped bumper profits.
Singapore’s domestic exports of oil last year firmed by 52.4 percent in nominal terms, extending gains from a 38 percent growth in 2021, data from Enterprise Singapore showed.
The growth in oil domestic exports was led by an uptick in the value of oil shipments to popular blending hub Malaysia, which surged by 66.1 percent year-on-year.
Other top destinations for domestic exports from Singapore were Indonesia and Australia, which saw the value of exports rising by 66.5 percent and 53 percent respectively, the data showed.
In volume terms, exports last year rose by 1.7 percent from 2021, when volumes fell by 10.1 percent from a year earlier.
Oil re-exports from Singapore also rose from the previous year in nominal terms, climbing by 28.1 percent year-on-year in 2022 and extending from 19.1 percent growth in 2021.
The gain was led by a rise in the value of re-exports to countries within Asia, including Bangladesh at 358.8 percent, Myanmar at 184.4 percent and Taiwan at 252.9 percent.
