Oil product stocks in Asia's key trading hub Singapore have eased following a rebound last week, led by a dip in inventories across the barrel, official data showed on Thursday.
Combined onshore oil product stocks totalled 40.45 million barrels in the week to July 1, down 4.1 per cent week-on-week, according to Enterprise Singapore data.
Inventories were however higher compared to June's weekly average of 37.5 million barrels.
Markets are bracing for a gradual recovery in supplies as more ships make their way out of the Strait of Hormuz, following an interim peace deal between the US and Iran.
Singapore light distillate inventories, including naphtha and gasoline, fell to a two-week low of 12.7 million barrels as net gasoline exports outpaced imports, with strong outbound flows to key buyers such as Indonesia.
Total gasoline exports stood at about 337,000 tonnes (about 2.8 million barrels), exceeding imports of roughly 249,000 tonnes, with Indonesia alone taking nearly 267,000 tonnes. Inflows from Saudi Arabia were at about 82,000 tonnes.
Meanwhile, naphtha inventories likely edged higher as imports of about 206,000 tonnes (1.8 million barrels) exceeded exports of around 170,000 tonnes, with cargoes arriving mainly from Russia at 91,000 tonnes. Imports were absent from the Middle East.
Residual fuel oil inventories also dipped, following a strong rebound last week. Stocks totalled 19.65 million barrels (3.1 million tonnes), down 3.2 per cent week-on-week.
Total imports fell 15.5 per cent to about 642,000 tonnes, while total exports slipped 53.7 per cent to 165,000 tonnes.
Some inflows from the Middle East were finally recorded after weeks of absence, including from Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, outflows from the tanks were largely headed for the Philippines and Vietnam.
Middle distillates stocks, which typically include diesel and jet fuel, slipped for the first time in nearly a month, but remained above eight million barrels.
However, net exports of both fuels were softer week-on-week. Diesel and gasoil net exports fell by around 10 per cent, while net exports of jet fuel and kerosene fell 60 per cent over the same period.
Imports of diesel and gasoil were mainly from India, South Korea and Thailand, while exports went to regional destinations such as Australia, Indonesia and New Zealand.
Traders were expecting fewer incoming cargoes from India soon, given the wider east-west price spread in the past week - signalling better seller margins to west of Suez markets.
As for jet fuel and kerosene imports, they were mostly from China and South Korea for the week.
(Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh, Mohi Narayan, Trixie Yap; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)