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Saudi Arabia imported fuel oil from Kuwait for the first time in more than two years in July to help meet peak summer power demand while discounted supplies from Russia fell, according to trade sources and shipping data.
Imports of Kuwaiti high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) exceeded 180,000 metric tons (about 37,000 barrels per day), data from shipping analytics firms Kpler and Vortexa showed, the kingdom's first fuel purchase from Kuwait since May 2022.
Saudi demand is keeping more Kuwaiti supply in the Middle East, supporting benchmark prices in Singapore amid an overall decline in Middle Eastern exports.
The trade flow is likely to continue in August as Aramco Trading also won a recent tender for 130,000 tons of very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) from Kuwait's Al Zour refinery, trade sources said.
The cargo, scheduled to load on August 11-12, traded at a discount of about $8 to Singapore VLSFO quotes on a free-on-board Kuwait basis, they added. -Reuters