Singapore fuel oil stocks dip 5%; Sept average weekly net imports fall

Residual fuel oil stocks at key trading hub Singapore dropped 5% week-on-week as downstream bunkering demand held steady, while September's average weekly net imports fell month-on-month, official data showed on Thursday.

Lower crude oil prices have resulted in a drop in bunker fuel prices, which lifted buying interest in recent weeks, several traders said.

Onshore fuel oil stocks were at 22.33 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 28, or 3.52 million tonnes, Enterprise Singapore data showed.

Weekly net imports of fuel oil averaged lower in September so far at 599,000 tonnes, compared with a weekly average of 707,000 tonnes in August. Net imports were at 548,000 tonnes for the week ended Sept. 28, the data showed.

The largest net import volumes were from Malaysia at 324,000 tonnes, the United Arab Emirates at 181,000 tonnes and Japan at 54,000 tonnes.

Meanwhile, top destinations for Singapore's fuel oil net exports were Bangladesh at 113,000 tonnes, Hong Kong at 50,000 tonnes and South Korea at 45,000 tonnes.

(Data from Enterprise Singapore)