Fuel oil stocks soar 11% in Singapore, light ends post another draw

London, (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) - Stocks of residual fuel oil, including both high and marine fuel (0.5% sulfur) grades, rose sharply in Singapore in the week ending 5 May, data from Enterprise Singapore showed Thursday.

Residual fuels rose 2.67 million barrels to 27.23 million barrels to hit a four-year high, the data showed.

Increased arbitrage flows into the Singapore hub since March helped lift fuel oil stocks up from almost an 18-month low in February.

Net import volumes fell 34% from the previous week.

Spot and nearby swap crack values for high sulfur fuel oil 380 cst in Singapore fell heavily on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, Quantum data shows.

June paper saw the biggest losses, with crack values dropping 28 cts/b on Tuesday and 65 cts/b on Wednesday versus Brent futures, but the refining margin held steady on Thursday to trade around -$7.60/b.

Elsewhere middle distillate stocks rose 503,000 barrels to 13.45 million barrels, while light end inventories saw a draw of 486,000 barrels to 11.899 million barrels - the lowest in more than a year.