Oil product inventories in Asia's fuel trading hub of Singapore fell to a three-week low, government data showed on Thursday, with stocks retreating across the barrel week-on-week.
Combined onshore inventories totalled 39.68 million barrels in the week ended September 23, data from Enterprise Singapore showed, down 6.9 per cent versus a week ago.
Residual fuel oil inventories dropped below 20 million barrels for the first time in three weeks, hitting a four-week low. The stocks fell 1.8 per cent week-on-week at 19.78 million barrels (3.11 million tonnes), though still averaging higher versus last month.
Spot fuel oil premiums have cooled in recent trade as more arbitrage supplies arrived this month, according to shipping data. Total fuel oil imports fell 9.5 per cent to about 828,000 tonnes in the week to September 23, with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates emerging as the top suppliers, Enterprise Singapore data showed.
Meanwhile, total exports rose 79.1 per cent from the previous week to over 400,000 tons, with the majority of outflows heading to China and neighbouring storage hub Malaysia.
Middle distillates stockpiles fell for the first time in a month to 8.13 million barrels, tracking the decline in jet fuel and kerosene net exports.
China-origin jet fuel imports resurfaced after a one-week hiatus - in line with earlier market expectations - contributing to a 46 per cent decline in net exports. Imports from Thailand also emerged in the week.
More arrivals from northeast Asia are expected in the coming weeks, ship tracking data showed.
For diesel and gasoil, net exports grew more than tripled from a week ago, with imports falling 63 per cent over the same period.
Imports were mostly from South Korea and Malaysia in the week to September 23, while exports to Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia were the most prominent.
Some exports to the US emerged for the first time this year, though Kpler data suggests these could be biofuels or sustainable aviation fuel.
Light distillates stocks, including naphtha and gasoline, fell to a three-week low of 11.78 million barrels.
Gasoline imports totalled about 189,000 tonnes (approximately 1.6 million barrels) during the period, while exports reached roughly 540,000 tonnes.
Outbound gasoline volumes were led by Indonesia at about 231,000 tonnes, followed by Malaysia at around 94,000 tonnes. Gasoline inflows were led by China at nearly 99,000 tonnes, followed by South Korea at about 86,000 tonnes.
Naphtha imports stood at about 268,000 tonnes (approximately 2.4 million barrels), led by Russia at nearly 148,000 tonnes, followed by Kuwait at around 29,000 tonnes.
Singapore exported about 17,000 tonnes of naphtha, with all shipments destined for Indonesia.
(Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh, Trixie Yap, Mohi Narayan; Editing by Diti Pujara)
