Defying Brent’s downward pull, bunker prices have gained in Houston and Balboa in the past day.
Changes on the day to 09.30 CST (14.30 GMT) today:
- VLSFO prices up in Houston ($2/mt) and Balboa ($1/mt), and down in Los Angeles ($5/mt), Zona Comun ($4/mt) and New York ($3/mt)
- LSMGO prices up in New York ($33/mt), Houston and Balboa ($2/mt), and down in Los Angeles ($10/mt) and Zona Comun ($5/mt)
- HSFO380 prices up in New York ($12/mt), Houston ($7/mt) and Balboa ($3/mt), and down in Los Angeles ($10/mt)
A higher-priced LSMGO stem has pushed New York’s price for the grade to a wide premium over Philadelphia.
Fog and limited visibility prompted authorities to shut Houston Ship Channel to all traffic for 2.5 hours this morning, leading to a temporary build-up in vessels waiting. The channel is a key waterway for ships handling cargo and taking bunkers in Houston, Galveston, Texas City and Baytown.
Vessel congestion is expected to clear. There are currently eight vessels waiting inbound, down from 11 earlier. The number of vessels waiting to sail and in transit has been steady at six and two, respectively.
VLSFO availability is tight in two Brazilian ports. The earliest delivery date is estimated to be 26 October in Rio de Janeiro, and 31 October in Belem. Other Brazilian ports like Santos, Paranagua and Rio Grande have prompt product more readily available.
Rio de Janeiro currently prices VLSFO at a $10/mt premium over Santos, while still $15-17/mt lower than Paranagua and Rio Grande.
Brent
Front-month ICE Brent crude had come down by $0.48/bbl on the day, to $84.64/bbl at 09.30 CST (14.30 GMT).
Brent is down after rallying above $86/bbl earlier today with support from a surprise standstill in US crude stock movements.
Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts expected US crude inventories to gain 2 million bbls in the week to 15 October. The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a 3.29 million-bbl build on Tuesday.
Yesterday’s official figures from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) defied those expectations with virtually unchanged stock levels at 426.54 million bbls, and boosted Brent by almost $1/bbl in the 15 minutes after they came out.
“While the weekly numbers showed that commercial crude oil inventories declined by just 431Mbbls, total oil and product stocks fell by 9.81MMbbls over the week…If this trend continues there will be growing concerns over hitting tank bottoms,” ING strategists Warren Patterson and Wenyu Yao said.
Patterson and Yao added that OPEC+ has come under reinforced pressure to increase output to stave off further oil price rises. Calls from India and the US to pump more have recently been echoed by Japan. The three major economies are concerned that high energy prices could hold back economic activity as they recover from the pandemic downturn.