SINGAPORE, July 4 (Reuters) - Singapore's middle distillates inventories slipped by 5.5% week on week as hefty gains in net exports of jet fuel/kerosene outweighed a decline in net exports of diesel/gasoil, official data showed on Thursday.

The stockpiles of diesel/gasoil and jet fuel/kerosene at key oil storage hub Singapore stood at 8.387 million barrels for the week ended July 3, down from 8.879 million the previous week.

Net exports of jet fuel/kerosene swelled more than twofold as total exports rose by more than 100% from a week earlier.

Exports to Australia were a key driver, while a 17% fall in total imports also supported this movement.

Meanwhile, on the diesel/gasoil front, net exports fell by around 76% as total imports surged by more than six times from last week.

Imports from regions such as Saudi Arabia and Malaysia swelled week on week, being the main contributor for the incline.

Volumes from Saudi Arabia were earlier expected to be heading into east of Suez markets such as Singapore because of price arbitrage, though some analysts are expecting this to slowly fade in the near-term if seller margins in the West continue improving.

"It would only take a small further divergence between Singapore and NWE (northwest Europe) pricing to start to push marginal volumes west again," Sparta Commodities' analyst Neil Crosby said.

More cargoes from Middle East - slightly more than 745,000 barrels - are still bound for Singapore in the remainder of July, Kpler shiptracking data showed.

Taiwan-origin cargoes also resurfaced for the first time in a month, adding to the rise in total imports.

For exports, volumes to regional destinations such as Indonesia were firmer week on week, with traders expecting volumes to continue flowing there due to a recent buying spree by Pertamina.

(1 ton = around 7.45 barrels for gasoil) (1 ton = around 7.88 barrels for jet fuel/kerosene)

(Reporting by Trixie Yap; editing by Jason Neely)