By:Zawya

SINGAPORE - Onshore fuel oil stockpiles at key trading hub Singapore rose for a second straight week, supported by strong inflows of Middle Eastern supply, data showed on Thursday.

Residual fuel inventories <STKRS-SIN> were at 22.9 million barrels (about 3.6 million metric tons) in the week to April 16, based on Enterprise Singapore data. [O/SING1]

The inventories were up 3.9% week-on-week, holding above typical weekly averages and reaching their highest in 17 weeks.

The top three supply origins recorded for the week were Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait.

Middle Eastern supply arriving in the broader Asia region had surged last month, while western supply and regional supply also firmed, ship-tracking data showed.

Attractive high-sulphur fuel prices had attracted more incoming barrels during then, even though volumes for April have tapered off slightly compared to March, trade sources said.

Meanwhile, outflows of fuel oil from Singapore onshore tanks were mostly headed to the Philippines and China, excluding movements to storage facilities in Malaysia.

The high-sulphur fuel oil spot market remained under pressure in recent days, while the low-sulphur fuel oil market was rangebound. [FUEL/A]

"Singapore's onshore residual stocks have been above 3 million tons since mid-March, buoyed by strong arrivals in March and softer maritime fuel demand," said Emril Jamil, a senior analyst at LSEG Oil Research.

"The build-up in onshore stocks and weaker demand has dampened ex-wharf high-sulphur bunker premiums," he added.

Week to Apr. 16, Fuel oil (in metric tons) Total Imports Total Exports Net Imports 

 BAHRAIN 57,917 0 57,917 

 BRAZIL 8,698 0 8,698

 CHINA 0 19,998 -19,998 

 ESTONIA 51,248 0 51,248

 INDIA 33,280 319 32,961 

 INDONESIA 45,586 0 45,586

 IRAQ 237,435 0 237,435

 JAPAN 48,147 0 48,147 

 KUWAIT 82,602 0 82,602

 MALAYSIA 69,493 93,394 -23,901

 NETHERLANDS 1,616 0 1,616

 PHILIPPINES 0 73,719 -73,719 

 THAILAND 67,074 0 67,074 

 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 102,050 0 102,050

 UNITED STATES 0 13,858 -13,858 

 VIETNAM 15,400 10,974 4,427

TOTAL 820,546 212,262 608,284