Bunker prices movements have been mixed across Europe and Africa in the past day, with most ports taking direction from dip in Brent values.
Changes on the day to 08.00 GMT today:
- VLSFO prices up in Rotterdam ($5/mt), and down in Durban ($13/mt) and Gibraltar ($1/mt)
- LSMGO prices steady in Gibraltar, and down in Rotterdam ($14/mt) and Durban ($5/mt)
- HSFO prices steady in Gibraltar, and down in Rotterdam ($9/mt)
Rotterdam’s LSMGO and HSFO380 prices have dropped under pressure from lower-priced stems fixed in the past day. Several LSMGO stems have been fixed in a wide $35/mt price range in the Dutch port in the past day, with the lower end of that range pulling down its benchmark.
Rotterdam’s VLSFO price has held up better against Brent’s downward pull, gaining on the day and narrowing its discounts to Skaw, Gothenburg and Hamburg to $14/mt. VLSFO is readily available in the ARA, while remaining tight in the Scandinavian locations.
Bunker deliveries in all of Malta’s offshore areas have been suspended today amid rough weather, port agent MH Bland says. Delays are expected as weather conditions are set to worsen over the weekend, with gale and heavy swells forecast on Sunday and Monday.
Malta’s suppliers are mostly quoting bunker deliveries for early December, sources say, as backlogs and tight barge schedules are expected.
High swells could suspend bunkering at Tenerife and Las Palmas’ outer anchorages today and delays are expected, local port agent MH Bland says. Most bunker barges are standing by at berth across the Canary Islands ports this morning, while one is supplying a vessel at anchorage in Las Palmas.
Suppliers in Gibraltar Strait ports have cleared most of their bunker backlogs after weather disruptions at the end of last week. There is no congestion in Gibraltar, while Algeciras has some congestion at its inner anchorage, where two suppliers are running 2-8 hours behind schedule.
Brent
Front-month ICE Brent crude has slid $0.49/bbl on the day, to $82.12/bbl at 08.00 GMT.
Brent has come off after big gains in the previous session. After the announcement of a US-led release of strategic oil reserves along with major Asian oil consumers and the UK, the ball is back in OPEC+’s court.
The big question is whether OPEC+ will decide to phase back output by another 400,000 b/d in January, as it has done since August. OPEC+ members will meet on 2 December for monthly talks. An additional meeting of core OPEC members is slotted in for 1 December.
Brent has “settled into a nervous wait-and-see mode with focus on the Dec 2 OPEC+ meeting after its advisory board said the US-led coordinated release of reserves may drive a crude oil surplus early next year,” Saxo Bank says.
US crude oil inventories gained by 1 million bbls in the week to 19 November, while gasoline and distillate stocks were drawn again to multi-year lows, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Gasoline and distillate stocks fell despite a further uptick in refinery utilisation, pointing to strong demand ahead of the Thanksgiving weekend.