Category: ARA stocks

ARA stocks rise on lacklustre demand (Week 11 – 2024)

Independently-held oil products stocks in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub in northwest Europe inched higher in the week to 6 March, according to Insights Global. Both regional and export demand remained low, while more imports arrived.

Naphtha stocks fell most on the week, on the back of higher blending activity and strong demand from the petrochemical sector, according to Insights Global. Petrochemical demand put a strain on physical naphtha supply in recent weeks, increasing backwardation in March, the highest since March 2022. Naphtha cargoes arrived in ARA from Algeria, Norway, Portugal and Spain, while none left.

Independently-held gasoline stocks rose in the week. Exports into west Africa were lower in the week, falling, according to Vortexa. Northwest European demand showed some strength, as more gasoline was rerouted towards France’s Atlantic shore after TotalEnergies confirmed its Donges refinery has stopped all operations on 4 March. Elsewhere in the region demand remained little changed on the week. Higher gasoline blending activity was seen during the week, as the consultancy noted a higher volume of gasoline being traded in the physical window during the week.

Jet stocks rose as the market showed signs of oversupply on the week. Jet fuel premiums against Ice March gasoil futures fell in the week to 6 March. Jet fuel cargoes are also harder to secure now, with market participants noting that most jet storage tanks are now taken.

Gasoil stocks inched lower on the week. Northwest European demand remained low, mainly driven lower by weak German demand, while more cargoes were re-routed into France’s Atlantic coast. Higher flows were also seen going into the Mediterranean, in response to ongoing refinery maintenance in the region.

Fuel oil stocks increased. Traders typically have to put their oil products into storage before they are loaded onto tankers. State-controlled Saudi Aramco’s trading arm ATC has sharply increased purchases of high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) in northwest Europe this year, including an unusually high amount in the first few days of March.

By Mykyta Hryshchuk

ARA oil product stocks hit nine-month high (Week 09 – 2024)

Independently-held oil product stocks at the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) trading hub increased in the week to 28 February, the highest since June, according to consultancy Insights Global, as overall trading activity remained muted.

Naphtha stocks rose on the week, the highest figure reported since 21 January 2021. Both gasoline blending activity and demand from the petrochemical sector remained level amid higher imports and little activity in the afternoon trading window. Naphtha cargoes arrived in ARA from northwest Europe, Algeria and the US, while none left.

Gasoline stocks declined on steady export flows from the ARA region, mainly into the US and west Africa. Market participants noted that blending activity remained stable in anticipation of higher demand from the US in the coming months. Inland gasoline demand remained muted. Tankers carrying gasoline arrived mainly from northwest Europe and the Mediterranean and departed to North and South America, the Mediterranean, west Africa and northwest Europe.

Gasoil stocks rose, helped by higher arrivals from the US and east of Suez while demand in the ARA region showed no signs of growth. Independently-held jet fuel stocks fell on the week, with no cargoes arriving.

By Mykyta Hryshchuk

ARA oil product stocks rise further (Week 4 – 2024)

Independently-held oil product stocks at the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) trading hub rose significantly, in the week to 22 February, according to consultancy Insights Global, as overall demand in the region remains muted.

Naphtha stocks rose on the week, after an increase the previous week. Increased blending interest for gasoline supported stock draws. But petrochemical demand was seen to be waning in the week compared with earlier in the month, which is likely to have increased storage at the hub.

Market participants have continued to indicate increased blending demand for gasoline in anticipation of higher exports to the US in the coming months, but gasoline stocks at the ARA hub declined in the week. There was some increase in export volumes out of the region. Volumes leaving for west Africa up from the previous week, indicating an increase. Departures to the US were also up on the week, according to Kpler data.

Gasoil stocks fell, pressured by longer delivery periods from the east as well as lower demand from Germany. Independently-held jet fuel stocks rose in the week, with cargoes coming into the ARA from the UAE as well as India.

By Atishya Nayak

ARA gasoline stocks at 25-month low (Week 1 – 2024)

The volume of oil products held in independent storage at the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) hub rose in the week to 3 January, according to consultancy Insights Global.

Independently-held gasoline stocks at ARA continued their downward trend for a fifth consecutive week, dropping to the lowest since December 2021. The stocks fell after a drop in the week to 27 December, reflecting slower export demand, while gasoline blending activity remained low. Inland demand also declined as there was little need to move refined products up the Rhine after refining capacity in southern Germany was brought back online.

Gasoline cargoes arrived at ARA from origins in Scandinavia and across western and southern Europe on the week. Cargoes went out to the Mediterranean and Latin America, but not the US. Cargoes also went to Germany and France.

Despite slower gasoline blending demand on the week, some naphtha restocking took place up the Rhine. The Dimitri, a Litasco-booked LR2 tanker departed the hub with naphtha with delivery options in Japan. Naphtha stocks at the ARA hub fell on the week.

Independently-held gasoil stocks, which are mostly road diesel, were a pc lower on the week and another pc lower on the year, registering. Exports appeared to be stronger while fewer cargoes arrived. Gasoil cargoes mostly came from western Europe, India and the US. Outgoing cargoes were on the way to Latin America, Scandinavia, western Europe and Poland.

Jet fuel stocks increased on week to their highest in nearly two months, which may reflect weaker air travel demand after the Christmas holiday period. Cargoes arrived at ARA from Kuwait and India, while they left for Norway and the UK.

Independently-held fuel oil stocks grew on week to their highest since July. Higher prices for HSFO in ARA and a weaker Singapore market meant that the arbitrage to Singapore was not workable on the week, helping the stocks to build. Fuel oil cargoes left ARA for the Caribbean, western Europe, the Mediterranean and Scandinavia, while they arrived from India, the Mediterranean, western Europe and the US.

By Mykyta Hryshchuk

ARA Oil Product Stocks Down (Week 51)

Oil products Blendstocks Diesel-heating oil-gasoil Gasoline Jet fuel-kerosine Naphtha Fundamentals Inventories

Independently-held oil product stocks at the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) trading hub dipped in the week to 20 December, according to data from consultancy Insights Global.

Jet fuel stocks shed on the week, a mix of rising demand in the run-up to the Christmas holidays and fewer cargoes arriving in ARA via the Red Sea due to the disruption to shipping stemming from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in and around the key waterway. Any tightness in jet fuel supply in ARA is unlikely to be prolonged, according to Insights Global.

Gasoline inventories in ARA fell on the week, driven by less gasoline blending, not because of higher demand, Insights Global said. As gasoline demand inland and for export dwindles, blending activity has decreased.

Gasoil stocks slipped. Market participants suggest higher carbon taxes in Germany next year new year could support buying in the last few weeks of 2023. But Insights Global expects high water levels on the Rhine to constrain shipments from ARA inland.

Higher demand from the petrochemical sector underpinned draws on naphtha stocks in ARA, which dropped in the week to 20 December. Fuel oil inventories bucked the trend, growing, as export economics to Singapore become less workable.

By Anya Fielding

ARA stocks inch lower as demand picks up (Week 50)

Independently-held product stocks at the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) trading hub edged lower in the week to 13 December according to data from Insights Global, following a draw on gasoline stocks. Dock worker strikes in Belgium, which held up loading and unloading operations last week, were concluded by the end of the week, according to the consultancy.

The data from Insights Global indicated that gasoline stocks in the ARA dropped in the week to 13 December. Significant export demand has emerged on the week, pulling gasoline cargoes to west Africa and transatlantic destinations, weighing on gasoline inventories. Inland demand started to slow down on the week, according to Insights Global, as Germany’s Miro refining joint venture has concluded maintenance at its Karlsruhe refinery.

With more refining capacity coming online, import demand for gasoil cargoes has steadily declined, increasing stocks on the week. Demand remained elevated up the Rhine as logistical disruptions along the river were still weighing on regional supply.

The arbitrage route to Singapore from ARA remained open on the week, drawing fuel oil stocks, but export opportunities could soon be gone, according to Insights Global. The most recent data from Enterprise Singapore showed that the city state’s fuel oil stocks rose to a three-month high.

Strong naphtha export demand from the Mediterranean to Asia-Pacific pushed up stocks in the northwest European market, according to Insights Global, while petrochemical demand remained weak in the region. Independently-held naphtha stocks rose by 45pc to 285,000t on the week, the highest reported number since June.

By Mykyta Hryshchuk

ARA Gasoline Stocks Down (Week 49)

Independently-held products stocks at the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) trading hub edged lower in the week to 6 December according to data from Insights Global, following lighter distillates draws.

The latest data from consultancy Insights Global show gasoline inventories at ARA fell in the week to 6 December. An inland pull remained towards west Germany, as refineries wrap up maintenance turnarounds.

Transatlantic export economics have become more workable, as the US seeks to build stocks ahead of the new year. Exports to west Africa remained busy.

The draws were present in data even as dock worker strikes in Belgium delayed loading and unloading operations, as cargoes were loaded onto ships but have not yet departed.

Demand for gasoil inland and across northwest Europe and the Baltics drove higher imports to the ARA trading hub. Independently-held gasoil inventories grew in the week to 6 December.

Oman has emerged as a source for gasoil and diesel recently, and more volumes from the country may be expected if the east-to-west arbitrage remains open, according to Global Insights. The Duqm refinery in Oman has scheduled the start-up of its hydrocracker in the new year.

Independently-held fuel oil stocks shed in the week to 6 December. The arbitrage to Singapore remained open, and several loadings of very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) have been scheduled to the city state, according to Insights Global.

By Anya Fielding

ARA Product Stocks Fall on Middle Distillate Draw (Week 48)

Independently-held oil product stocks at the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) trading hub inched lower in the week to 29 November as a draw in middle distillate stocks offset a rise in gasoline inventories

Latest data from consultancy Insights Global show gasoline inventories at ARA rose on the week, with traders stocking up in anticipation of an increase in export demand.

Naphtha stocks also rise, as higher imports outweighed broadly stable demand from gasoline blending and a slight uptick in demand from the petrochemical sector as colder weather drove up the price of competing feedstock propane.

Gasoil inventories at ARA declined on the back of slower imports from east of Suez, while demand up the Rhine river reached its highest level since June, according to Insights Global. Jet fuel stocks also dropped as lower imports offset weaker demand.

By Mykyta Hryshchuk

ARA Oil Products Stocks Rise on Higher Imports (Week 47)

Independently-held oil product stocks at the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) trading hub rose in the week to 22 November, as higher imports and slower demand drove inventories higher.

Gasoline stocks dropped on the week, according to the latest data from consultancy Insights Global, as export demand picked up and there were delays replenishing gasoline stocks. Regional demand in ARA remained stable, while a notch more was exported to west Africa while the arbitrage to the US remained hard to work.

Naphtha stocks almost doubled on the week as higher imports outpaced modest demand in the region. Gasoline blending demand slowed down on the week, while more naphtha was stored in tanks, according to the consultancy. Petrochemical demand is picking up, while propane is getting pricier, letting more naphtha into petrochemical crackers.

Gasoil inventories also rose on the week, on the back of a wave of arrivals from east of Suez. Demand up the Rhine river remained firm during ongoing planned and unplanned refinery outages in parts of Germany.

Jet fuel stocks increased on the week. Winter diesel blending opportunities were behind a flurry of imports of jet fuel on the week.

By Mykyta Hryshchuk

ARA oil product stocks rise on weaker export demand (Week 46 – 2023)

Independently-held oil product stocks at the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) trading hub rose in the week to 15 November, as lower export demand helped drive a build-up of gasoline and fuel oil inventories.

Gasoline stocks at ARA increased, according to the latest data from consultancy Insights Global. Demand for gasoline to be barged up the Rhine river remained firm as a result of unplanned refinery outages in Germany but the arbitrage to ship gasoline to the US was not workable, according to Insights Global.

Fuel oil inventories rose the most in the past week. Arbitrage shipments to Singapore were difficult to work, although some high-sulphur fuel oil cargoes were sent to the US for use in cocker units.

Stocks of other products fell. Gasoil inventories dropped, the lowest level since October 2022 when French refinery workers were on strike. Tight supply in western and southern parts of Germany prompted traders to seek gasoil cargoes from ARA.

Naphtha stocks declined as demand for gasoline blending feedstocks increased. Demand for naphtha from the petrochemical sector remained low, with naphtha at a $127.25/t premium to competing petrochemical feedstock propane on 15 November.

Reporter: Mykyta Hryshchuk