Five market sources confirmed that the global trading arm (ADNOC) of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co is leasing fuel storage in Singapore for a 'first time. This is part of plans by the oil and gas company backed by the United Arab Emirates to increase trade volumes in Asia.

ADNOC Global Trading (AGT) has signed a lease to store fuel oil at the Jurong Port Universal Terminal. This is the largest onshore storage terminal in the city-state for residue fuel, according to two sources.

This move will expand?the state giant’s footprint in Singapore. It is the largest bunkering hub in the world, where traders store fuel and blend it to supply ships, and to re-export for regional demand. ADNOC has a presence in Singapore, including a?office that handles crude marketing and research as well as trading.

Sources say that AGT's lease begins in February. However, the exact duration of the lease is unknown. They declined to identify themselves because the matter was commercially sensitive.

ADNOC declined to comment. Jurong Port Universal did not respond immediately to a comment request.

ADNOC's trading business is divided into two divisions - ADNOC Trading focusing on crude oil and ADNOC Global Trading a joint venture between Italy's Eni, Austria's OMV and ADNOC Trading focusing on refined products.

Oil storage onshore is a valuable asset to companies and their trading activities. It allows traders to take advantage of attractive prices by buying and selling when storage space is available.

ADNOC’s move expands the pool of trading houses on a highly competitive Singapore Fuel Oil market, including major?trading?houses such as Vitol Trafigura and PetroChina.

AGT buys fuel oil with high sulphur content produced in the Middle East, and then?sells it to Asian trading houses and refineries on a delivered basis. The company is also a fuel supplier for Fujairah - the fourth largest bunkering port in the world, according to sources.

Singapore's fuel oil inventories onshore have increased last year, indicating a strong demand for storage.

Enterprise Singapore data showed that weekly inventories in Singapore averaged 22.8 millions barrels, up from 19.7 million in 2024. (Reporting and editing by Florence Tan; Tony Munroe, Christopher Cushing and Jeslyn Lerh)

(source: Reuters)