Declining Brent values have pulled European and African bunker prices down from highs made last week, and several Mediterranean locations have seen weather delays.
Changes on the day to 08.00 GMT today:
- VLSFO prices down in Durban ($28/mt), Gibraltar ($15/mt) and Rotterdam ($5/mt)
- LSMGO prices down in Gibraltar ($15/mt), Durban ($8/mt) and Rotterdam ($6/mt)
- HSFO prices up down in Rotterdam ($8/mt) and Gibraltar ($5/mt)
VLSFO prices have taken direction from Brent and dipped firmly below the $600/mt mark in Rotterdam and Gibraltar. Gibraltar’s price premium over Rotterdam has narrowed to just $5/mt.
Gibraltar Strait ports were hit by rough weather over the weekend. There is some congestion in Gibraltar this morning, with three vessels waiting to bunker with one supplier, MH Bland says.
The port agent says bunkering is going ahead as normal across Gibraltar, Algeciras and Ceuta, but Algeciras’ could be affected by wind and swells today. Several suppliers in Algeciras are delayed by a few hours.
Delays have mounted off Malta, where bunkering was suspended across bunkering areas last week. Bunkering Area 3 off Malta’s east coast is currently the only to be operational among Malta’s six offshore areas. Winds are mostly blowing from the west today.
Durban’s VLSFO price has come under recent pressure from a lower-priced stem. Its discounts to other South African ports have widened, to $22/mt to Richards Bay, and $37/mt to Port Elizabeth.
Brent
Front-month ICE Brent crude has come down by $1.38/bbl on the day since Friday, to $83.20/bbl at 08.00 GMT today.
Brent is under pressure after China decided to release strategic gasoline and diesel reserves to ease some of the recent tightness in its market, especially for diesel. Chinese refineries have said they will follow suit by ramping up runs this month.
Concerns over high oil prices have prompted the US, Japan and India to renew their pleas for OPEC+ to increase output, to alleviate what US energy diplomat Amos Hochstein calls “an energy crisis,” according to Bloomberg. Their worry is that consumers feel the pinch during a global oil supply deficit and prices at near multi-year highs.
OPEC+ will meet on Thursday for monthly talks, and is expected to stick to its current 400,000 b/d output increase per month.