Fujairah Light Distillate Stocks Hit Five-month Low

Inventories of gasoline and other light distillates at the Port of Fujairah dropped to their lowest level in almost five months as of Monday, 20th May, as refinery maintenance may be curbing supplies, data released Wednesday by the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, FOIZ, showed

FUJAIRAH, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 22nd May, 2019) Inventories of gasoline and other light distillates at the Port of Fujairah dropped to their lowest level in almost five months as of Monday, 20th May, as refinery maintenance may be curbing supplies, data released Wednesday by the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, FOIZ, showed.

Light distillates stockpiles fell 4 per cent over the week to 10.054 million barrels, the lowest since 31st December, 2018 and the third consecutive weekly decline. Gasoline stockpiles have also been falling in the US and Japan.

"We're seeing gasoline stocks come off because it's maintenance season and we're coming into the driving season in the US," said Matt Stanley, a broker at Star Fuels in Dubai. A stockpile of 10 million barrels in Fujairah is "still a lot," he said.

Total stockpiles of oil products at Fujairah rose 0.4 per cent over the week to 23.923 million barrels, with middle distillates such as jet fuel rising 2 per cent to 2.322 million barrels and heavy distillates and residues up 4 per cent at 11.

547 million barrels. The total has dropped 7.1 per cent from a record 25.749 million barrels on 29th April.

Light distillate inventories had been climbing this year, reaching 11.975 million barrels as of 29th April, matching the record set in late January. Gasoline supplies had been increasing as a byproduct as refiners tried to meet increased demand for low sulphur diesel, Stanley said. "The whole world needed low sulphur diesel, and gasoline was a byproduct, so it led to this massive stockpile of gasoline," he said.

Light distillates include gasoline, gasoline blending components, naphtha and condensates that are stored in white product tanks and have an API of 45 degrees and above. Middle distillates include gasoil, diesel, marine bunker gasoil, jet fuel and kerosene. Heavy products are fuel oils used for marine bunkers and power generation.

S&P Global Platts is the official publisher of the FOIZ oil stocks data, and has deployed a blockchain network for its collation.