The global trading arm of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is leasing fuel oil storage in Singapore for the first time, five market sources said, part of the United Arab Emirates-backed oil and gas producer's plans to boost trade volumes in Asia.
ADNOC Global Trading, or AGT, has signed a lease for about 160,000 cubic metres of fuel oil storage capacity at the Jurong Port Universal Terminal, the largest onshore terminal for storage of the residue fuel in the city state, two of the sources said.
The move expands the state giant's footprint in Singapore, the world's largest bunkering hub, where traders store and blend fuel to supply ships and for re-export to meet regional demand. ADNOC's existing Singapore presence includes an office handling crude marketing, research and trading.
AGT's lease starts from February, sources said, although the duration is not immediately known. They declined to be identified as the matter is commercially sensitive.
ADNOC declined to comment. Jurong Port Universal did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
ADNOC has two divisions in its trading business - ADNOC Trading, focused on crude oil, and ADNOC Global Trading, a joint venture with Italy's Eni and Austria's OMV, focused on refined products. Onshore oil storage is seen in the industry as a strategic asset for companies and their trading activities.
By taking up storage capacity, it allows traders to buy and sell opportunistically when prices are attractive.
ADNOC's move broadens the pool of trading houses in a highly competitive Singapore fuel oil market including major trading houses such as Vitol, Trafigura and PetroChina.
AGT typically buys high-sulphur fuel oil cargo produced in the Middle East and sells them to trading houses and refineries in Asia on a delivered basis, market sources said. It is also an active fuel supplier to Fujairah, the world's fourth-largest bunkering port, they said.
Singapore has seen robust demand for fuel oil storage, with onshore residual fuel inventories rising last year. Weekly inventories averaged 22.8 million barrels in 2025, compared with 19.7 million barrels in 2024, data from Enterprise Singapore showed.
(Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Florence Tan, Tony Munroe and Christopher Cushing)