Singapore middle distillates inventories little changed on mixed gasoil, jet fuel net exports

By Trixie Yap and Matthew Chye

SINGAPORE, June 1 (Reuters) - Inventories of middle distillates at key trading hub Singapore were little changed as the drop in net gasoil exports offset the rise in net jet fuel/kerosene exports, official data showed on Thursday.

Stockpiles of gasoil and jet fuel/kerosene were at 7.957 million barrels (1.068 million tonnes) in the week ended May 31, compared with 7.829 million barrels from a week earlier, the data from Enterprise Singapore showed.

Gasoil net export volumes fell by almost 58% on the week to 94,193 tonnes, with around 40,000 tonnes still heading to the Netherlands despite a closed east-west export arbitrage window for Asian cargoes.

Cargo flows from India to Europe are expected to stay low as well, said Refinitiv Oil Research.

The exports could be traders fulfilling contractual requirements there since spot economics are not viable in the short run, two trading sources said.

On the import front, arrivals from Russia continued.

Below are the top import contributor countries for gasoil in the week and their respective volumes (in tonnes):

Separately, jet fuel/kerosene net exports surged by 34% on week and total imports were lower at less than 10 tonnes.

Exports were mostly to regional destinations such as the Pacific and southeast Asia.

Below are the top export contributor countries for jet fuel/kerosene in the week and their respective volumes (in tonnes):

For both fuels, volumes from China remained absent since end-March and early April as the country continues to scale down oil product exports.

Gasoil outflow will remain at a subdued level as we expected since Chinese refiners will prioritise catering to the domestic market amid higher cracking margins at home, Refinitiv Oil Research said.

(Reporting by Trixie Yap and Matthew Chye; editing by Jason Neely)