Bunker prices are rising across East of Suez ports today, as Brent has gained more than $1/bbl on the day to trade above $77/bbl.
Changes on the day to 18.30 SGT (10.30 GMT) today:
- VLSFO prices up in Fujairah ($5/mt), Singapore ($3/mt), and steady in Zhoushan
- LSMGO prices up in Singapore ($14/mt), Fujairah ($12/mt) and Zhoushan ($3/mt)
- HSFO380 prices up in Singapore ($7/mt) and Zhoushan ($6/mt), and steady in Fujairah
Singapore’s residual fuel oil stocks inched up by just 160,000 bbls in the week to 22 September, Enterprise Singapore data showed yesterday.
The bunkering hub’s fuel oil imports dropped by more than 6 million bbls on the week, to their lowest levels since January 2020. Exports rose by 925,000 bbls on the week.
Lead times remain unchanged for fuel oils in Singapore for another day, with 7-8 days recommended for VLSFO and HSFO380 supply, while LSMGO continues to be more readily available at 4-5 days ahead.
Fujairah’s VLSFO price has edged up to parity with Singapore’s after both prices rose on the day. Zhoushan’s price has held steady and widened its discounts to the other two ports to $7/mt.
Zhoushan continues to have the shortest lead times for VLSFO among the three East of Suez ports, standing at 2-3 days compared to five days in Fujairah and an even longer 7-8 days in Singapore.
Brent
Front-month ICE Brent continues to reach higher and has added $1.64/bbl in the past day, to stand at $77.41/bbl at 18.30 SGT (10.30 GMT).
That is the first time since early July it has made it above the $77/bbl mark. The futures contract is on track for a weekly gain of $2/bbl, having found additional support from lingering production disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico, with another big weekly US crude stock draw as a result.
According to the latest figure from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, 16% of offshore crude production capacity in the Gulf remains shut in, nearly four weeks after platforms and rigs were evacuated. Production has gradually come back from over 95% of capacity shut in at its peak.
Amid crude resupply constraints, ExxonMobil’s Baton Rouge refinery was granted two rare 1.5 million-bbl crude oil loans from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in the immediate wake of Ida.
China has also tapped into its state oil reserves to meet refinery demand, auctioning off 4.43 million bbls of crude divided into four cargoes to PetroChina and Hengli Petrochemical, Reuters reports.
On the demand side, US refineries have ramped up run rates to meet robust gasoline and distillates demand, after several big Louisiana refineries were hit and damaged by Hurricane Ida.
In the week to 17 September, US refinery utilisation had recovered by over five percentage points to 87%, which included a 10 percentage-point jump in the Gulf Coast region, official figures from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed.