East of Suez bunker prices have mostly been steady to rising in the past day, with some taking direction from gaining Brent values.
Changes on the day to 16.00 SGT (08.00 GMT) today:
- VLSFO prices up in Fujairah ($23/mt), and steady in Singapore and Zhoushan
- LSMGO prices up in Fujairah ($5/mt) and Singapore ($4/mt), and down in Zhoushan ($19/mt)
- HSFO380 prices up in Fujairah ($1/mt), and down in Zhoushan and Singapore ($2/mt)
Bunkering operations are still suspended in Zhoushan and Shanghai as Typhoon Chanthu has brought strong winds and rainfall to the region.
Port operations are expected to resume from tomorrow, but with a backlog of deliveries. One bunker supplier is tied up for the next few days, while other suppliers are not facing lengthy delays.
Fuel availability remains good in Zhoushan. Four of the five suppliers that stock HSFO380 in the Chinese port have volumes to supply. VLSFO and LSMGO are also in good supply in Zhoushan.
Singapore’s VLSFO price has held at parity with Zhoushan today. VLSFO continues to require up to eight days of lead time in Singapore. LSMGO is more readily available with 3-4 days ahead needed, which is one day shorter than last week.
Brent
Front-month ICE Brent crude has come up by $0.73/bbl in the day to 16.00 SGT (08.00 GMT), when it stood at $74.15/bbl.
Brent has made it over $74/bbl for the first time since early August and partly been propped up by persistently shut in offshore oil production in the Gulf of Mexico.
About 8% of platforms and 9% of rigs have yet to be manned after being evacuated in the lead-up to Hurricane Ida two weeks ago. But production has gradually come back, with the share of shut in production in the Gulf coming down from 95% in the immediate wake of Ida, to 44% now, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
Just as US offshore platforms and rigs are coming back online after Hurricane Ida, tropical storm Nicholas prompted oil companies, including Shell, to evacuate platforms again.
Nicholas strengthened into a hurricane by the time it made landfall on the Texan coast last night, the National Hurricane Center said. Bunkering and some port operations and outbound sailings have been halted in Corpus Christi and ports in the Houston area in Hurricane Nicholas’ path.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has revised its third-quarter global demand forecast down by 200,000 b/d, but thinks demand will pick up as wider vaccine rollouts will slow the spread of the Delta Covid-19 variant.
“Global oil demand is estimated to have declined for three straight months due to a resurgence of Covid-19 cases in Asia,” the IEA said in its latest report today.
“Already signs are emerging of Covid cases abating with demand now expected to rebound by a sharp 1.6 mb/d in October, and continuing to grow until end-year.”