Most prices are down across bunkering ports in the Americas, and weather disruptions are expected to halt deliveries in Zona Comun until tomorrow.
Changes on the day from Friday, to 09.30 CST (14.30 GMT) today:
- VLSFO prices up in Houston ($16/mt), and down in Los Angeles ($18/mt), Zona Comun ($7/mt), Balboa ($4/mt) and New York ($2/mt)
- LSMGO prices up in Balboa ($16/mt), and down in ($19/mt), Zona Comun ($6/mt), Houston ($5/mt) and New York ($1/mt)
- HSFO380 prices down in Los Angeles ($20/mt), Houston ($12/mt), New York and Balboa ($5/mt)
Houston’s VLSFO price has bounced back up again, after declining Brent values and lower-priced stems pulled the Gulf Coast hub’s price down towards the end of last week.
Rising VLSFO values in Houston since Friday has narrowed its discounts to Corpus Christi and the New Orleans Outer Anchorage (NOLA), where prices have dipped. Houston currently prices the grade $20-29/mt lower than these locations.
Bunkering has been suspended on rough weather in Zona Comun. Deliveries are expected to resume tomorrow, to allow suppliers to work through backlogs.
Supply schedules have been delayed, and availability of VLSFO and LSMGO can generally be tight for prompt dates at the Argentinian anchorage location. One supplier can deliver from 23 September at the earliest.
Zona Comun’s VLSFO price fell to wider discounts to Brazil’s Paranagua and Rio Grande towards the end of last week, and has expanded on those discounts to $14-16/mt today.
Brent
Front-month ICE Brent crude has come shed $0.66/bbl on the day since Friday, to $74.21/bbl at 09.30 CST (14.30 GMT) today.
Brent has extended its losses from the previous session and dropped below the $75/bbl mark again. Recovering US crude production has eased some of the upward pressure on the futures contract, while some production could remain offline for months still.
Shell, the biggest crude producer in the Gulf of Mexico, cut its output forecast for the rest of the year, according to Reuters. The Dutch oil major said about 40% of its production remains offline across three oilfields, and that production could be capped considerably until next year.
A total of around 23% of Gulf production – across Shell and producers – has yet to come back online. This is down from around 96% when Hurricane Ida struck three weeks ago, the latest figures from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement showed Friday.
Brent rose to seven-week highs last week, after Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed a bigger-than-expected draw of US crude stockpiles. After two weeks of crippled US crude production, the country’s commercial stockpiles have been drawn down to two-year lows.
A stronger US dollar has made it less attractive to buy Brent and other dollar-denominated commodities.
“Strength in the USD over the last couple of days has provided some headwinds to the market,” said ING strategists Warren Patterson and Wenyu Yao.