Finished gasoline exports from the Mideast Gulf picked up in February compared with previous months as refinery maintenance in the region wound down.
Exports rose to 1.16mn t (338,000 b/d) in February, the highest monthly volume since September. Exports were capped when regional refinery maintenance tightened gasoline availability in the fourth quarter.
The tighter supplies cut into Mideast Gulf exports to key African markets, with shipments down by nearly 26pc in the final quarter compared with the same period in 2022, according to Vortexa data. Exports have rebounded since then with more cargoes moving to west Africa, Kenya and southern Africa in recent months, market participants said.
Kenya, which relies on imports to meet its gasoline demand, met more than half of its requirements through the Middle East last year. But the refinery turnarounds prompted Kenya to seek cargoes from Singapore, with imports from the city-state hitting a record high in November. The Middle Gulf has reclaimed the position as Kenya's main gasoline supplier, with around 178,000t arriving from the UAE to the port of Mombasa in February, up on the 86,000t imported in January.
Mideast Gulf producers, particularly Saudi Arabia and the UAE, typically export higher volumes of gasoline to the US in the northern hemisphere spring, ahead of its peak summer driving season.
"The US has already started buying Saudi gasoline this month, which means there could likely be an increase in exports in March as well, a market participant said.
Around 33,000t of gasoline arrived in the US from Saudi Arabia's 400,000 b/d Jizan refinery on 9 March compared with zero imports since November.
Singapore also saw a record influx of gasoline cargoes from the UAE and Saudi Arabia in February because of a firm east-west spread that diverted more European gasoline to the Mideast Gulf.
Saudi Arabia's PetroRabigh could have restarted a gasoline unit at the 400,000 b/d Rabigh refinery that shut down in December, although this could not be confirmed. Indian private-sector refiner Reliance Industries and state-controlled Bharat Petroleum had maintenance at the 1.24mn b/d Jamnagar and 240,000 b/d Mumbai refineries respectively during September-November. Abu Dhabi's state-owned refiner Adnoc completed a planned turnaround at its 817,000 b/d Ruwais refinery complex by early March, which could also see more supplies emerge.
