A near $2/bbl Brent jump has lifted prices across major bunker locations in the Americas in the past day, and bunkering has resumed after a weather suspension in Zona Comun.
Changes on the day to 09.30 CST (14.30 GMT) today:
- VLSFO prices up in Zona Comun ($23/mt), Balboa ($18/mt), Los Angeles ($17/mt) and New York ($14/mt), and down in Houston ($1/mt)
- LSMGO prices up in Balboa ($27/mt), Houston ($20/mt), Los Angeles ($19/mt), New York ($17/mt) and Zona Comun ($10/mt)
- HSFO380 prices up in Los Angeles ($14/mt), Balboa ($13/mt), New York ($12/mt) and Houston ($11/mt)
Calmer weather conditions have allowed bunkering to resume at the Zona Comun anchorage. Strong winds and fog suspended bunkering on Monday and yesterday, delaying several vessels. Suppliers have been catching up with backlogs and at least six vessels scheduled to arrive for bunkers today and tomorrow.
Zona Comun’s VLSFO price has surged on the back of Brent and support from higher-priced 500-1,500 mt stems over the past two days. The price jump has narrowed its discounts to Brazil’s Rio Grande and Paranagua, from $10-12/mt yesterday to $7-8/mt now.
VLSFO has traded in a wide price range in Houston in the past day. A stem at the lower end of the range has resisted Brent’s upward push to keep a lid on price gains.
Houston’s price has dropped to larger discounts of $27-29/bbl to Panama’s Cristobal and Balboa, where prices have made considerable gains in the past day. VLSFO availability has tightened with one supplier in Panama, while several others have stocks.
Brent
Front-month ICE Brent has gained $1.88/bbl on the day, to $75.56/bbl at 09.30 CST (14.30 GMT).
Brent rose above the $75/bbl mark with support from yesterday’s indicative US crude inventory figures from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showing a 6.11 million-bbl weekly stock draw – the biggest in over two months.
Crude has been pulled out of US storage in every week since late July. Draws have been particularly big in the weeks after US Gulf offshore production was shut in and kept offline after Hurricane Ida struck.
Offshore crude production has returned in increments, and the latest figures from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement show 321,000 b/d, or 17%, of production capacity remains offline.
Fresh data released from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) today showed a 3.48 million-bbl draw in the week to 17 September. At 413.96 million bbls, US inventories have not been lighter since early October 2018.
Brent values were rather steady following the EIA stocks report release today. A half hour after the report came out the futures contract stood only $0.01/bbl lower.
Nigeria has made a case for its baseline production quota to be raised from 1.83 million b/d to 2.20 million b/d, Argus Media reports. Other OPEC+ members were granted new baselines when the group’s monthly output policy talks stranded in July. Nigeria argues that its current baseline was set during a time of crisis when militants attacked and stole from oil installations in 2018.