5 September, 2019 (Argus) — Inventories of oil products independently held in Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) fell.

Gasoil and fuel oil stocks rose week on week, but inventories of gasoline, naphtha and jet fuel fell.

Gasoline inventories dropped by more than 10pc to reach their lowest since the week to 31 May amid high outflows to the US and west Africa. Demand from along the river Rhine continued to receive support from the outage of the fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) at b/d Miro refinery, keeping barge traffic inland at a high level. The FCC at Miro is expected to restart during the week beginning 9 September. But low Rhine water levels prompted loading restrictions, increasing the number of barges needed to carry each cargo. Seagoing tankers arrived in ARA from France, Italy, Russia, Sweden and the UK. The elevated level of tanker and barge traffic caused congestion and loading delays in the Amsterdam and Antwerp areas, particularly during the early part of the week.

Naphtha inventories were also lower on the week, with less arriving by tanker and demand high from gasoline blenders in the ARA hub. Barge traffic to inland petrochemical end-users was low owing to scheduled maintenance turnarounds at several sites. Tankers did arrive from Denmark, France, Spain and the UK while none departed.

And jet fuel stocks in ARA fell, largely as a result of a week-on-week fall in the volume arriving by tanker. A single cargo arrived in ARA from Saudi Arabia. Tankers departed for Ireland and the UK.

Gasoil inventories rose on the week with more volume arriving by tanker and barge restrictions inhibiting flows to inland destinations in spite of firm demand. Buying interest in diesel continued to be buoyed by the outage at Miro. Tankers arrived from India, Russia, the UK and the US. Fuel oil inventories rose on the week. No tankers departed for Singapore and tankers arrived from France, Poland, Russia and the UK.

Reporter: Thomas Warner