Europe sent more fuel oil west than east in April

Shipments of European fuel oil to the Americas were higher than those to Asia-Pacific in April, the first month this had been the case since June last year

Movements of fuel oil from Europe to other regions were 2.15mn t in April, according to fixture lists and vessel tracking, down by just over 23pc from March's 17-month high but 26pc higher year on year.

A total of 990,000t went to the Americas, the highest since Argus began keeping records in 2016. Just 340,000t was shipped along that route in March.

Long-haul westbound shipments of fuel oil have been encouraged by the US embargo on Venezuelan exports, which has seen regional refiners look elsewhere for fuel oil supplies. Venezuela was the second largest supplier of residual fuel oil to the US in 2018 behind Canada, with 2.4mn t. Adding to this regional tightness, Trinidad and Tobago, another key supplier, has been unable to export since state-owned PetroTrin's 165,000 b/d Pointe-a-Pierre refinery was shut down in November.

US residual fuel oil inventories were at an 11-week low at the start of March, prompting demand. The US was the principal destination for European fuel oil exports in April, with 470,000t. A further 320,000t was shipped to the Bahamas, and 200,000t to the Dutch Caribbean. Russia was the principal supplier, with loadings from Ust-Luga, Vysotsk, and Taman. Supplies were also shipped westbound from Rotterdam.

Shipments of European fuel oil to Asia-Pacific fell by around 60pc month-on-month in April, to 870,000t. The March total of 2.1mn t had been the highest of 2019 so far. All of the April cargoes were shipped to the bunkering hub of Singapore, including one of 270,000t on a very large crude carrier (VLCC).

The collapse in eastbound shipments could have been driven by weaker economics. The Singapore second-month 380cst swap premium to high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) cargo prices in northwest Europe averaged $26.39/t in April, compared with $34.69/t in March.

The drop also came at a time of high Singaporean fuel oil inventories. Singapore fuel oil stocks reached a 16-month high of 3.8mn t in the week to 26 April.

Two cargoes of around 80,000t each were shipped from Europe to the Middle East in April, half of March volumes. Mideast Gulf countries may have imported more fuel oil in March as refiners stockpiled ahead of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

One 130,000t cargo was shipped from the Baltics to Lome, Togo, the first shipment to Africa since September.