ARA fuel oil stocks climb 17%

In September, ARA's independently held fuel oil stocks have risen by 17% compared to August, according to Insights Global data. Fuel oil inventories have increased by 776,000 barrels to reach 5.40 million barrels, while gasoil stocks have gone up by 249,000 barrels to 12.32 million barrels. This represents a 49% jump in fuel oil stocks from their lowest level in over a decade earlier in May. However, the current levels are still 16% lower than February numbers prior to the Middle East conflict.

So far in September, ARA has imported around 256,000 barrels per day (b/d) of fuel oil, down from 342,000 b/d in August. The majority of these shipments originated from Mexico (32%), Colombia (28%) and the US (14%). On the export side, ARA has sent out about 254,000 b/d of fuel oil this September, up from 144,000 b/d last month, mainly for unloading in France (24%), Canada (18%) and the US (15%).

Gasoil inventories in the region have risen by 2% in September compared to August, with imports up slightly from 155,000 b/d in August to 157,000 b/d in September, coming mostly from the US (41%), the UK (17%) and Denmark (14%). Despite tight bunker fuel availability, buyers are advised to expect lead times of 5-7 days for all heavy, light and medium-grade fuel oil deliveries, according to a trader.