Category: ARA stocks

October 1, 2020 – Oil products held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) trading hub edged down by less than 1pc over the past week, according to data from consultancy Insights Global.

Middle distillate markets continued to labour under notably high inventory levels. Gasoil stocks dropped on the week, but remained close to 13-month highs. And the volume of gasoil departing the ARA area for inland destinations along the river Rhine fell to its lowest level since Insights Global began collecting the relevant data in November 2017, weighed down by low water levels and high inventories inland. Gasoil tankers arrived in the ARA area from the North Sea, where there was around 1.1mn t held in floating storage as recently as 23 September. Tankers departed for Argentina, west Africa and the UK.

Jet fuel stocks rose, staying close to all time record highs. The end of the peak summer holiday season and the reimposition of some Covid-19 restrictions in Europe continued to weigh heavily on demand. A single tanker arrived from the UAE, while two tankers departed for the UK.

Gasoline stocks rose, with the volume of in and outflows easing on the week. Gasoline cargoes arrived in ARA from the Baltics, Finland, France and the UK and departed for the US, the Mediterranean and west Africa. Outflows to the US fell for a second consecutive week, while outflows to west Africa were steady. There was some congestion in the barge market, particularly around the port of Amsterdam. Gasoline inventories are around a third higher than at the same time last year following two quarters of depressed demand caused by pandemic travel restrictions.

Overall naphtha stocks fell from the previous week, with cargoes arriving from Algeria, Norway and Portugal. The volume of naphtha heading up the Rhine was broadly stable on the week, with steady demand coming from both the petrochemical and gasoline blending sectors.

Fuel oil stocks fell after reaching nine-week highs the previous week. Cargoes departed for the Mediterranean, and arrived from the Caribbean, Denmark, France, Germany and the UK.

Reporter: Thomas Warner

September 03, 2020 -Oil products held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) trading hub fell this week, the lowest total recorded since 30 April.

Overall oil product inventories continued to fall back from the 17-year highs in mid-June. Stocks rose sharply following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic as demand particularly for fuels fell heavily, but have since fallen gradually to the four-month lows recorded during the week to yesterday.

Stocks of gasoil, fuel oil and naphtha all fell week on week, while gasoline inventories rose and jet fuel inventories jumped. The Suezmax Dong a Thetis loaded a jet fuel cargo in Rotterdam the previous week, which brought jet inventories to their lowest since mid-May. But the arrival of tankers from South Korea, India and Saudi Arabia brought stocks straight back up to a level close to the three-month average.

Gasoline stocks rose for a second consecutive week, supported by the arrival into the ARA of cargoes that had been held in floating storage on the North Sea. Cargoes also arrived from France and the UK. Outflows to key arbitrage destinations the US and west Africa rose on the week, and tankers also departed for Canada and Mexico.

Stocks of all other products fell. Gasoil inventories fell back from five-week highs, despite flows of diesel from the ARA area up the river Rhine falling again to reach their lowest since at least November 2017, when Insights Global began tracking the relevant data. Low Rhine water levels had inhibited barge journeys inland in recent weeks. But a temporary rise in water levels did little to stimulate inland flows, with middle distillates in the European hinterland still high. Gasoil tankers arrived in the ARA region from Russia and departed for the UK.

Flows of naphtha up the Rhine fell sharply on the week, owing to a fall in demand from petrochemical end-users. The main buyers are well covered in the short term, reducing the incentive for them to bring more naphtha inland. And demand from around the area for naphtha as a gasoline blending component remains low as a result of the northwest European surplus of finished grade gasoline. Naphtha cargoes arrived from Algeria and Russia, while none departed.

Fuel oil stocks fell to reach their lowest since the week to 5 March. Demand for bunker fuels has been generally low since the beginning of the pandemic, and there was little sign of a sudden increase in demand over the past week. Outflows to west Africa rose on the week, and tankers arrived from Denmark, Poland, the UK and the Caribbean. Fuel oil demand in the Caribbean is probably suffering from the impact of Covid-19 on the cruise industry.

Reporter: Thomas Warner

August 27, 2020 – Oil products held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) trading hub fell this week, with stocks of all surveyed products falling except gasoil.

The total is the lowest recorded since the week to 30 April. Sudden heavy falls in oil product demand during the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic brought crude and product markets into a contango that lifted inventories to their highest level in at least 17 years during mid-June. Inventories have since fallen gradually to the four-month lows recorded during the week to yesterday.

Fuel oil and jet fuel each fell heavily. Jet stocks fell to reach their lowest since mid-May. A rare westbound arbitrage opened last week, probably a result of low northwest European jet prices. The largest single factor in this week’s stock draw was the loading of the Suezmax Dong a Thetis in Rotterdam. The tanker is awaiting orders in the North Sea. Cargoes also left the ARA region for the UK. The only incoming cargo came from the Ardmore Enterprise, which had itself been waiting in the North Sea for orders prior to offloading a part-cargo in Rotterdam.

Fuel oil stocks fell to reach their lowest since the week to 5 March. Demand for bunker fuels has been generally low since the beginning of the pandemic, and there was little sign of a sudden increase in demand over the past week. The heavy fall in inventories was more the result of the departure of a Suezmax for Singapore, as well as the departure of other tankers for the Mediterranean and west Africa. No Suezmax tankers arrived either, with smaller tankers arriving from Poland and Russia.

Gasoline stocks fell for the second consecutive week. Inventories had been at record highs, but the opening of the arbitrage route to the US boosted exports over the week. Gasoline outflows to the US are likely to continue in the short term owing to the temporary production cuts prompted by the anticipation of Hurricane Laura. Tankers also departed the ARA area for west Africa, Mexico and Canada, and arrived from the Baltics, France and the UK.

The amount of gasoline being produced in northwest Europe appeared to rise in response to anticipated firming of US demand, which in turned helped weigh on inventories of naphtha — a key component in gasoline blending. Naphtha stocks fell, weighed down additionally by fading demand from inland petrochemical end-users. Tankers arrived in the ARA area from Norway and the UK, while an LR1 departed for Brazil.

Gasoil stocks bucked the trend, rising to reach five-week highs. Diesel demand up the Rhine has been capped because of full tanks, while heating oil consumption remains subdued by warm weather. Flows from the ARA area into Germany consequently reached their lowest since at least November 2017, when Insights Global began tracking the relevant data. Gasoil arrived in the ARA region from Russia and the US, and departed for Argentina and the Mediterranean.

Reporter: Thomas Warner

August 20, 2020 – Oil products held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) trading hub this week, as light distillates draws were outweighed by builds in gasoil and fuel oil.

Gasoline stocks fell back from last week’s record high in the week to yesterday, according to consultancy Insights Global. The total is still up from the same time a year ago, but has edged down on the period because of slightly firmer export demand.

Gasoline tankers arrived from France, Italy, Spain and the UK, and departed for Canada, the Mediterranean, the US and west Africa, as well as the North Sea for orders. European gasoline producers and blenders could be in the unusual position of having to roll summer-grade stocks over to next year, unable to drain tanks before the transition to winter grades at the end of next month.

A rise in blending demand and lower imports saw naphtha inventories fall, but remain around twice the level of a year ago. Naphtha cargoes arrived in the ARA region from Russia and the UK, while nothing left the region during the period.

Jet stocks declined on the week as a rare westbound arbitrage appears to have opened, probably a result of low northwest European jet prices. Cargoes left the ARA region for the UK as well as the US, and arrived from the Mideast Gulf.

Gasoil stocks were higher, as lacklustre demand was offset by lower imports. Diesel demand up the Rhine has been capped because of full tanks, while heating oil consumption remains subdued by warm weather. Gasoil arrived in the ARA region from Canada, Russia, the UAE and US, and departed for Argentina, the Mediterranean and UK.

Fuel oil recorded by far the biggest build on the week. A shortage of high-sulphur fuel oil production has drawn in cargoes from outside the region, including an Aframax-sized vessel from Russia. Additional cargoes arrived from the Caribbean, Finland, Norway and Poland. Fuel oil left the region for the Mediterranean and west Africa.

Trading and refining firm Gunvor has kept off line its Antwerp and Europoort plants, which are normally among the largest suppliers of high-sulphur residual products in northwest Europe.

Reporter: George King Cassell

August 13, 2020 – Total oil products stocks held independently in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) area rose on the week, a second consecutive week of gains, according to consultancy Insights Global.

The week on week stockbuild was driven by a rise in jet fuel and gasoline stocks to fresh all-time highs, while naphtha stocks also rose. Refining margins in northwest Europe have fallen back as markets have become oversupplied as a result of increasing refinery utilisation and persistently high stock levels.

Jet fuel inventories rose to their highest on record since at least January 2011 this week. Jet fuel was delivered to ARA from the UAE this week, while cargo outflows were recorded to the UK. Demand is slowly rising as air travel resumes — Insights Global recorded the first jet barge heading up the Rhine from ARA in several months this week — but proved insufficient to offset import levels this week. Jet values have come under pressure in northwest Europe in recent sessions in response to rising Covid-19 infections across Europe and fresh travel restrictions.

And gasoline stocks also hit an all-time high this week, on the week. Stock levels increased as a result of weakening export demand along key arbitrage routes to North America and west Africa, while inflows into the region were high as a result of oversupply on the continent prompting producers to ship excess volumes into storage tanks. Gasoline was delivered to ARA tanks from Finland, Sweden, the UK, France and the Mediterranean this week, while exports were recorded to Canada, the US, and west Africa, albeit in limited volumes.

Naphtha stocks gained on the week, their highest since June. Inventories probably increased as a result of waning demand for the product in Europe for both gasoline blending and also from the petrochemical sector. Naphtha was shipped into the ARA region from Algeria, Russia and Spain this week, and was removed from tank for a long-haul voyage to Brazil.

Fuel oil inventories fell to their lowest since March, marking a decrease of 10pc on the week. No fuel oil was imported into ARA storage from Russia — the leading exporter of the product — as the region is increasingly bypassed by direct shipments from Baltic Sea terminals to the US, where coking demand has provided an outlet for high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) this year following the IMO 2020 marine fuel sulphur cap. Fuel oil arrived to ARA storage from Italy, Poland and the UK, and left the region for the Mediterranean and west Africa.

And gasoil stocks dipped this week, as supply arrived from the US and exited for the UK. Barge activity was said to have been particularly thin over the past week, and the small stockdraw came as a result of minimal imports.

Reporter: Robert Harvey

August 11, 2020 — Total oil products held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) trading hub have risen in the past week, after reaching three-month lows a week earlier.

The gradual recovery in northwest European oil product demand since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic has generally reduced the incentive for market participants to store product in tanks. But overall inventories rose very slightly during the week to yesterday, mainly as a result of a fuel oil stockbuild.

Fuel oil stocks rose after reaching their lowest since 12 March the previous week. MR tankers departed for the Mediterranean and west Africa, but the outgoing volume was outweighed by the arrival of cargoes from Sweden, Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Germany. Very low sulphur fuel oil arrived in Rotterdam on board the Maersk Tampa, having departed from Wilhelmshaven in late July according to Vortexa. Rotterdam-based HES International restarted the vacuum distillation unit (VDU) at its mothballed 260,000 b/d Wilhelmshaven refinery in June in order to produce IMO 2020-compliant marine fuels.

ARA gasoil stocks fell on that week. Tankers departed for France, Germany and the UK, and arrived from Russia and the US, but high inventories at destinations along the Rhine continued to inhibit barge bookings from the ARA area to terminals inland. Barge flows from ARA to upper Rhine destinations fell to their lowest level since November 2018 as a result. Inflows from Russia will remain at a low level during August.

Gasoline inventories in ARA fell. The volume departing for west Africa rose on the week, and tankers also left the area for Canada, the Caribbean and the US. Tankers arrived from Finland, Portugal, Spain, the UK and the North Sea where tankers are being used for floating storage. Northwest European gasoline refining margins fell below zero on 3 August — the first time gasoline has been assessed below North Sea Dated crude in August since at least 2009. The consequent lack of blending activity meant that demand for barges to carry blending components around the ARA was virtually nil.

Jet fuel inventories rose, returning close to fresh all-time highs. Demand from the aviation sector remained low. Two small cargoes departed the area for the UK and a part-cargo arrived from Singapore.

Naphtha inventories rose. The volume of naphtha departing the ARA area for inland Rhine destinations ticked down for the second consecutive week, and demand from gasoline blenders was virtually non-existent. Naphtha cargoes arrived from Finland, Norway and Russia.

By Thomas Warner