Residual fuel oil stocks at key trading hub Singapore fell 2% in the week ended March 29, as net imports eased after a sharp uptick last week, data showed on Thursday.

Onshore fuel oil stocks were at 22.58 million barrels (3.56 million tonnes) in the week ended March 29, based on Enterprise Singapore data.

The decline came amid a drop in net fuel oil imports, which slid 31% to 562,000 tonnes.

Top net imports were from Saudi Arabia at 188,000 tonnes, followed by Malta at 88,000 tonnes and Kuwait at 72,000 tonnes.

Bangladesh remained the top destination for Singapore’s net fuel oil exports for a second consecutive week, with volumes at 89,000 tonnes. The country was followed by the Philippines at 46,000 tonnes and China at 26,000 tonnes.

There were no Russian volumes recorded in the data. However, fuel oil supplies from Russia continued to flood Asia, said Refinitiv Oil Research.

A bulk of Russian fuel oil has headed to India and the Greater Singapore trading hub, boosting Western arbitrage inflows in Asia to a 48-month high of 3.62 million tonnes in March, Refinitiv said.

Source: Reuters – reported by Jeslyn Lerh and edited by Subhranshu Sahu