East of Suez bunker prices have edged down on the day amid broadly steady Brent values, and Singapore’s VLSFO price remains at discounts to other bunker hubs.

 

Changes on the day to 17.00 SGT (09.00 GMT) today:

· VLSFO prices down in Zhoushan ($3/mt), Fujairah and Singapore ($2/mt)

· LSMGO prices down in Singapore ($3/mt), Fujairah and Zhoushan ($2/mt)

· HSFO380 prices down in Singapore ($2/mt) and Fujairah ($1/mt)

 

Singapore has been pricing VLSFO at roughly steady discounts of $15-16/mt to Fujairah, and $21-22/mt to Zhoushan in the past two days.

 

VLSFO availability has improved slightly in Singapore since the end of last week, but prompt product remains tight with suggested lead times of 10-11 days, compared to eight days in Fujairah and Zhoushan.

 

LSMGO availability remains tight in Zhoushan, Fujairah and Singapore. Suggested lead times for the fuel grade in Singapore and Fujairah remain 6-8 days and nine days out, respectively.

 

HSFO380 stems continue to require around 10 days of lead time in both Singapore and Fujairah. In Zhoushan, a supplier awaits HSFO380 cargo resupply by 5 February.

 

Brent

Front-month ICE Brent has inched up $0.15/bbl on the day, to $89.29/bbl at 17.00 SGT (09.00 GMT).

 

Brent prices continue to hover near seven-year highs ahead of the OPEC+ meeting scheduled later today, in which the group is expected to increase its output target for March by another 400,000 b/d.

 

The OPEC+ Joint Technical Committee (JTC) held its prediction for global oil demand growth for 2022 unchanged at 4.2 million b/d, Reuters reports.

 

However, investors remain cautious as Saudi Arabia may announce a surprise output hike during the meeting to compensate for the production shortfall by fellow oil producers, says Saxo Bank strategist Ole Hanson.

 

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

 

US crude inventories fell by 1.6 million bbls in the week to 25 January, American Petroleum Institute (API) data showed. The fall countering analysts’ expectations of a 1.5 million bbls rise, according to a Reuters poll.

 

Official Energy Information Administration (EIA) data on weekly US crude and oil products is due for release today at 10.30 ET (15.30 GMT).