A $2/bbl Brent rally has sent bunker prices up across the board in the Americas, and port operations have normalised in the Houston area.
Changes on the day to 09.30 CST (14.30 GMT) today:
- VLSFO prices up in Zona Comun ($18/mt), New York ($17/mt), Los Angeles ($15/mt), Houston ($14/mt) and Balboa ($12/mt)
- LSMGO prices up in Los Angeles and Zona Comun ($21/mt), Houston ($20/mt), New York ($18/mt) and Balboa ($10/mt)
- HSFO380 prices up in New York ($15/mt), Los Angeles and Balboa ($13/mt) and Houston ($12/mt)
All port restrictions have been lifted in Houston, Galveston and Texas City today. The ports are operating at normal capacities less than two days after tropical storm Nicholas hit, the Captain of the Port informed during a coordination meeting with the US Coast Guard this morning local time.
Pilots have been operating as normal across the three ports since the early hours of today. 20 ships were held up waiting to transit inbound through Houston Ship Channel, and three vessels waiting to sail, at the time the channel reopened last night, according to port agent Norton Lilly.
A chemical spill at Dow Chemical’s Freeport plant has suspended some vessel traffic. A shelter-in-place order has been issued and vessels will be restricted from moving in the area until the order has been lifted, Norton Lilly said.
Brent
Front-month ICE Brent crude has jumped $2.18/bbl higher on the day, to $75.94/bbl at 09.30 CST (14.30 GMT).
Brent has rallied throughout the day amid figures from the American Petroleum Institute (API) and Energy Information Administration (EIA) showing bigger-than-expected draws of US crude inventories in the week to 10 September.
Commercial US crude inventories fell by 6.42 million bbls, which undershot the 3.5 million-bbl draw expected by analysts polled by Reuters.
The stocks came down after Hurricane Ida knocked out the vast majority of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico. 66% of oil production in the Gulf was still shut in on 10 September, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Most offshore platforms and rigs had been evacuated in preparation for Hurricane Ida’s strike.
Production has gradually come back online since. All the rigs, and all but 7% of the platforms, had been manned again yesterday, to bring the share of shut in production down to 40%.
“Oil’s rally is nowhere near over as both demand and supply drivers are still mostly bullish: further delays in making progress with the Iran nuclear deal, a cold winter, and further production disruptions from a very active hurricane season,” said OANDA analyst Ed Moya.