Stocks of fuel oil in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp hub, as measured by Insights Global, fell 6% to 1.043 million mt in the week to Wednesday.

The Northwest European 0.5%S marine fuel market has been weak of late as the bunker market settles down following the implementation of IMO 2020 and as the coronavirus outbreak has hit demand from the East for arbitrage cargoes.

The oil complex settled lower Friday, snapping eight consecutive up days, amid a renewed focus on demand destruction concerns after the further spread of the coronavirus outside of China.

Shell said global LNG demand grew by 12.5% to 359 million mt in 2019.

Crude stocks typically build at this time of year as shoulder season refinery maintenance weighs on crude demand.

For now, inquiries for end February to early March loading are few, a trader said.

The Asian naphtha market was tight on light naphtha cargoes due to refinery turnarounds in the Middle East.