East of Suez bunker prices are roughly steady amid rangebound Brent values, and bunkering has resumed in South Korean ports after muted activity during the Lunar New Year holiday.

 

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

· VLSFO prices up in Singapore ($1/mt), steady in Zhoushan, and down in Fujairah ($2/mt)

· LSMGO prices up in Zhoushan ($7/mt) and Singapore ($1/mt), and down in Fujairah ($1/mt)

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

 

Bunker fuel deliveries have resumed in South Korean ports after being limited during to the Lunar New Year holiday. VLSFO availability is tight in South Korea’s southern ports of Busan, Ulsan and Yeosu with suggested lead times of up to 10-12 days.

 

Bunkering has still not ramped up to normal levels in Zhoushan and other Chinese ports, where Lunar New Year holidays were observed. Zhoushan’s LSMGO price rose on the day to widen its premium over Fujairah to $14/mt. LSMGO availability remains tight at the Chinese port. Suggested lead times for LSMGO in Fujairah and Singapore are up to eight days out.

 

Fujairah’s VLSFO price slipped on the day to widen its discount to Zhoushan to $5/mt, and to narrow its premium over Singapore to $14/mt. VLSFO lead times in Fujairah and Zhoushan are eight days out, compared to 10-11 days in Singapore.

 

Brent

Front-month ICE Brent has slipped $0.21/bbl on the day, to $89.08/bbl at 17.00 SGT (09.00 GMT) today.

 

Brent has seen some downward pressure after Iranian oil minister Javad Owji said the country is ready to boost oil supply as soon as US sanctions are lifted, and that Iranian supply is needed to cool rallying prices, Iranian news agency Shana reports.

 

The announcement came after OPEC+ stuck to its plan of bringing back 400,000 bbls of output in March, when member states met for monthly talks yesterday. The group hopes to unwind its remaining 2.6 million b/d output cuts by the end of this year, Reuters reports.

 

However, the group is currently running behind its monthly target hikes, as output rose only 210,000 b/d in January compared to December, according to a Reuters survey.

 

Meanwhile, US crude oil inventories fell by 1 million bbls on the week, according to US Energy Information Administration data. The country’s crude oil stocks were down 13% from a year earlier.

 

“US production is also lower on colder weather and that might continue as Texas braces for an Arctic blast,” says OANDA analyst Ed Moya.