East of Suez bunker prices have moved moderately in mixed directions amid steady Brent values in the past day.
Changes on the day to 16.00 SGT (08.00 GMT) today:
- VLSFO prices up in Fujairah ($1/mt), and steady in Singapore and Zhoushan
- LSMGO prices up in Fujairah, and down in Zhoushan and Singapore ($3/mt)
- HSFO380 prices up in Singapore ($2/mt), steady in Zhoushan, and down in Fujairah ($7/mt)
Lead times remain steady for bunker fuel oils in Singapore, with 7-9 days recommended for VLSFO and HSFO380 stems. LSMGO continues to be more readily available at 4-5 days ahead.
Singapore’s residual fuel oil stocks grew by 3.45 million bbls in the week to 8 September and have risen above their five-year average, Enterprise Singapore data showed this week.
The bunkering hub’s fuel oil imports fell by 2.53 million bbls to their lowest levels since late May, while exports saw a smaller 1.88 million-bbl drop, reaching a two-month low.
Singapore mostly imported fuel oils from the UAE, Thailand and India. Top export destinations were China, Bangladesh and Malaysia.
Brent
Front-month ICE Brent has been steady on the day, only shedding $0.09/bbl to $72.43/bbl at 16.00 SGT (08.00 GMT).
The futures contract is also broadly unchanged on the week, and is on track for a $0.18/bbl dip.
China announced it will tap into its strategic oil reserves for the first time to stave off inflationary pressure and rein in rising raw material prices for the country’s manufacturers. The oil will be auctioned to domestic refiners, China’s National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration said yesterday.
“Releasing from state reserves is not great for sentiment, given that one would expect it to weigh on crude oil import demand,” ING’s strategists Warren Patterson and Wenyu Yao commented.
Tight supplies in the US has lent support to Brent this week. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement estimates that 1.39 million b/d of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico remains shut in almost two weeks after producers braced for the impact of Hurricane Ida by evacuating platforms and rigs.
Shell, the biggest producer in the Gulf, declared a force majeure yesterday as it struggles to bring back production to meet supply commitments. 13% of platforms and 36% of rigs have yet to be manned after they were evacuated.
ExxonMobil’s Baton Rouge refinery has been granted a second loan for 1.50 million bbls of crude from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR). The 520,000 b/d refinery normalised operations yesterday and needs the extra reserves to keep up production levels while resupply remains under pressure, Reuters reports.