Fujairah oil product stocks up 5.8 percent on week, driven by light distillates

FUJAIRAH, 24th October, 2018 (WAM/S&P Platts) -- Oil product stocks at Fujairah rose 5.8 percent on the week to 21.612 million barrels in the week to 22nd October, according to the latest data from the Fujairah Energy Data Committee.

Light distillates were up 8.8 per cent, the biggest weekly rise, followed by a 5.8 per cent increase in residues and no change for middle distillates stocks from the previous week.

Light distillates reached their highest levels since the beginning of inventory reporting in January 2017, due to weak gasoline demand and strong supply flows of European gasoline east of Suez.

"Demand remains present, with Kuwait's KPC and Pakistan's PSO issuing fresh buy tenders this past week, but this is outweighed by heavy supply fundamentals," S&P Global Platts Analytics said in a report Wednesday.

Strong Asian demand for gasoil has pushed flows from the Middle East and India to the region, but despite this, stocks remained at their highest level since 27th March 2017.

Heavy distillate stocks touched a nine-week high, driven by weak bunker demand. But as bunker prices flatten against crude, demand is expected to pick up, Platts Analytics said.

WAM/PH