Feb base oil imports from Bahrain steady

The delivery of base oils from Bahrain to key global markets held steady in February even as the flow of supplies to Europe and Asia slumped.

Almost all the supplies moved to the US instead.

The key markets of US, Europe and Asia-Pacific took delivery of more than 27,000t from Bahrain in February, government data showed.

The volume fell from more than 29,000t the previous month and from year-earlier levels for a fifth month.

The US was the destination for more than 95pc of the supplies. Its share is typically less than 30pc of the total.

The surge in shipments to the US left scant volumes for Europe and even less for Asia.