Americas bunker prices have jumped with support from Brent, and US fuel oil stocks have been drawn to another all-time low.

 

Changes on the day to 08.30 CST (14.30 GMT) today:

· VLSFO prices up in Balboa ($22/mt), New York and Zona Comun ($12/mt) and Houston and Los Angeles ($10/mt)

· LSMGO prices up in Los Angeles ($30/mt), Balboa ($20/mt), Houston, New York and Zona Comun ($15/mt)

· HSFO prices up in New York ($11/mt), Houston and Balboa ($10/mt)

 

US residual fuel oil stocks were drawn by nearly 1 million bbls in the week to 28 January, when they slumped to fresh all-time lows of 25.12 million bbls. An uptick in refinery fuel oil production was countered by a similar-sized slowdown in imports.

 

HSFO380 has been tight to limited in several major North American and Caribbean ports since heavy destocking drew down inventories towards the end of last year.

 

Balboa’s VLSFO and LSMGO prices have risen against Houston’s again. The Panamanian port’s VLSFO premium over Houston has tripled in the past day, to $18/mt, while its LSMGO discount to Houston has nearly halved to $5/mt.

 

Several suppliers have busy barge schedules for prompt dates in Panama. Some require 7-9 days of lead time and have limited space to delivery until then. Others have limited volumes of VLSFO to supply in Cristobal and await resupply to improve availability prospects.

 

VLSFO and LSMGO bunker availability are also in tight US West Coast ports, and only some suppliers can offer prompt. The earliest expected delivery dates in Los Angeles range between four days to 13-16 days ahead.

 

Los Angeles’ LSMGO price has jumped with support from a higher-priced stem in the past day.

 

Fog and reduced visibility led Houston Ship Channel to shut in both direction last night local time, preventing vessels from entering and departing ports in the Houston area. Vessel congestion has since grown to 27 vessels waiting inbound, 22 sailing and three shifting vessels pending, port agent Norton Lilly says.

 

Brent

Front-month ICE Brent has come up by $1.16/bbl on the day since yesterday, to $89.74/bbl at 08.30 CST (14.30 GMT).

 

Brent regained some lost ground today as OPEC+ agreed to stay on its set path of phasing back 400,000 b/d of supply in March.

 

Saxo Bank strategist Ole Hanson said leading up to the meeting that some investors were cautious about a surprise output hike from Saudi Arabia compensate for the production shortfall by fellow oil producers.

 

A rise in US drillers’ investments into new oil wells may have stoked Saudi fears over market share, OANDA analyst Ed Moya said.

 

Meanwhile, US crude production has not kept up with demand and contributed to draw down inventories towards recent multi-year lows. Commercial US crude oil inventories shed 1.04 million bbls in the week to 28 January, even as the country’s total refinery utilisation and crude runs fell on the week.