Bunker prices have mostly been rangebound in European bunkering hubs the past day, and HSFO380 remains tight in several northern European ports.
Changes on the day to 08.00 GMT today:
- VLSFO prices up in Durban ($25/mt), Rotterdam and Gibraltar ($1/mt)
- LSMGO prices up in Durban ($35/mt) and Rotterdam ($5/mt), and steady in Gibraltar
- HSFO prices up in Gibraltar ($3/mt) and steady in Rotterdam
HSFO380 is tight in Skaw and Hamburg, pushing premiums to $23-28/mt over Rotterdam. Only one supplier has offered the grade in Hamburg in recent days. Prompt deliveries are in tight availability with Skaw’s suppliers.
There are minimal delays and no bunker congestion in the Gibraltar Strait ports this morning, port agent MH Bland says. Gibraltar, Algeciras and Ceuta currently have the most competitive VLSFO prices in the Mediterranean region, with discounts of $5-10/mt to Malta and the Canary Islands ports.
Durban’s VLSFO and LSMGO prices have surged in the past day. Its VLSFO price has flipped to a $7/mt premium over Port Elizabeth, and its LSMGO discount to Port Elizabeth has narrowed to $5/mt.
Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Antwerp’s VLSFO prices have gained around $40-50/mt since 22 August, when they slumped to 3-4-month lows under pressure from a Brent price of less than $65/bbl. Rotterdam’s price has since risen in line with a Brent price gain of 11%, while Amsterdam and Antwerp’s prices have added around 9%.
Brent
Front-month ICE Brent has fallen for a second day, shedding $0.69/bbl to $71.62/bbl at 08.00 GMT.
OPEC+ agreed yesterday to maintain its output policy of bringing 400,000 b/d of oil back into the market in monthly increments. The group stuck to its policy despite calls from the US to pump more oil to prevent prices from rising further.
“As widely expected there was little in the way of surprises from yesterday’s OPEC+ meeting… While OPEC+ acknowledges that there is still plenty of uncertainty related to Covid-19, they believe that fundamentals continue to improve,” ING strategist Warren Patterson commented.
US crude inventories fell by more than expected last week. 7.17 million bbls of crude was drawn out of storage in the week to 27 August, when they measured 425.54 million bbls.
Brent is under pressure as several refineries in Louisiana remain shut or producing at reduced capacity after they were struck by Hurricane Ida. This will lower their crude intake, especially if offshore rigs and platforms return to operation at a faster pace than the refineries.
About 95% of offshore oil production in the Gulf of Mexico was shut in on Monday, according to a tally by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. 39 platforms and two rigs that were evacuated in preparation of Ida have now been manned to bring the share of shut in production down to 80%.