Residual fuel oil stocks at key trading hub Singapore rebounded from three weeks of declines, as imports gained and exports fell in the week to Oct. 18, official data showed on Thursday. Onshore fuel oil inventories climbed 7.9% to 19.39 million barrels (3.05 million metric tons), hitting three-week highs, data from Enterprise Singapore showed. This came as weekly net fuel oil imports - calculated by subtracting total exports from total imports - recovered by 55% to 943,000 tons.

Malaysia was the top origin for net fuel oil import volumes at 279,000 tons, the data showed. This was followed by the United Arab Emirates at 217,000 tons, though the volumes eased compared to last week. Imports from Estonia recorded a rare climb, hitting 203,000 tons, though these are likely Russian barrels, based on trade sources and shipping data. Meanwhile, China was the top destination for net fuel oil exports out of Singapore as with last week.

However, exports to China were at 29,000 tons in the week to Oct. 18, compared to 100,000 tons in the previous week. Other top export destinations were New Zealand and Vietnam. However, total fuel oil exports out of Singapore dropped 63% week-on-week. Oct 18, Fuel oil (in Total Total Net Imports tons) Imports Exports AUSTRALIA 24,131 6,497 17,634 BELGIUM 24,989 0 24,989 BRAZIL 75,874 0 75,874 BRUNEI 1 0 1 CHINA 12,625 41,972 -29,347 DENMARK 93,290 0 93,290 ESTONIA 202,905 0 202,905 INDIA 0 535 -535 INDONESIA 12,038 21,688 -9,649 JAPAN 28,979 0 28,979 KOREA 0 0 0 MALAYSIA 316,281 37,450 278,831 NETHERLANDS 15,239 0 15,239 NEW ZEALAND 0 20,803 -20,803 RUSSIA 44,154 0 44,154 THAILAND 19,926 0 19,926 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 217,160 0 217,160 UNITED KINGDOM 0 0 0 UNITED STATES 0 0 0 VIETNAM 0 15,542 -15,542 TOTAL FOR 27101979 1,087,593 144,486 943,107 (Data from Enterprise Singapore) (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Varun H K)