Brent crude slid $1.54, or 3.0%, to $50.72 a barrel by 0510 GMT after rising 1.5% and touching its highest since March last Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down $1.42, or 2.9%, to $47.68 a barrel after also climbing 1.5% on Friday to its highest level since February.
The cause of this slide can be attributed to the new strain of the virus that has been identified in the UK, which is a lot more transmissible, striking fear in the global economy. Many European nations have shut their borders to the UK in a bid to try and stop the spread of the new strain, and freight to and from France has also been halted. 17 million people in the UK are effectively in a full lockdown to try and curb the spread of the virus, having Christmas cancelled and household mixing banned.
Oil has been ignoring negative news over the last month and has been in bull trend as is looked to gain for the seventh consecutive week. However, it is possible that oil may fall below the $50 per barrel mark as investors and oil market participants look to square off positions and start afresh for the new year. Further, the Russian oil and gas minister Alexander Novak suggested that daily oil demand was still at six to seven million barrels per day, still well off the pace of the pre-pandemic levels. (Reuters)
Shipowners are actively beginning to procure low sulphur fuel oil for January following a slowdown in December ahead of the festive season, setting the market in recovery mode. In the 180 CST high sulphur fuel oil market, short-term demand from the power generation sector in Sri Lanka as its sole refinery shuts for maintenance, is expected to offset some of the waning demand from other regions. (S&P Global Platts)
INDEX: (MTD Estimates)
* Sing 380: 295.09
* Rott 3.5%: 274.32
* Sing 0.5%: 374.03
* Rott 0.5%: 358.57
MARKETS NEWS:
* OPEC+ Will React Faster, Be More Hands-On With Oil Market
* S. Korean Refiners Buy 8M Bbls of North American Crude for March
* Rongsheng Seeking Light, Medium Crude for Feb.-March
* Iraq’s SOMO Sells Jan. Basrah Light at About Parity
* Philippines Sees Stable Oil Supply Despite Refinery Shutdown
* Net Bullish ICE Brent Crude Oil Bets Boosted to 9-Month High
OTHER NEWS:
* Shell Inks $2.5 Billion Australian LNG Stake Sale to GIP
* U.S. Spending Deal Extends Tax Credits For Biofuels, Other Sources
* Japan Eyes Boosting Renewables for 2050 Energy Mix, NikkeiSays
OIL PRODUCT NEWS:
* U.S.: Exxon Baytown Sets FCC Work for Early January
* EUROPE: Flows From Americas; Fawley Restarts Unit
* ASIA: Floating Fuel Oil Stockpiles; Wepec Gasoil
ECONOMIC DATA/EVENTS:
* Australian government’s quarterly resources and energy report
ANALYST VIEWS/COLUMNS:
* Floating Oil-Product Storage Set to Drop Most Since July: FGE
* More Supertankers Have Loaded Diesel Cargoes in Asia: Kpler
OTHER FINANCIAL MARKETS:
* Dollar Rises, Stocks Slip; Virus Curbs Hit Pound: Markets Wrap
Sing VLSFO 0.5% INDIC
Jan-21 380.50 / 383.50
Feb-21 381.25 / 384.25
Mar-21 381.25 / 385.25
Apr-21 381.75 / 385.75
May-21 382.00 / 386.00
Jun-21 381.75 / 386.75
Q1-21 380.25 / 385.25
Q2-21 381.50 / 386.50
Q3-21 381.75 / 387.75
Q4-21 382.25 / 388.25
CAL21 381.25 / 387.25
Rott VLSFO 0.5% INDIC
Jan-21 362.50 / 365.50
Feb-21 362.25 / 365.25
Mar-21 361.75 / 365.75
Apr-21 362.00 / 366.00
May-21 362.25 / 366.25
Jun-21 361.75 / 366.75
Q1-21 361.50 / 366.50
Q2-21 361.75 / 366.75
Q3-21 361.25 / 367.25
Q4-21 360.75 / 366.75
CAL21 361.00 / 367.00
Sing 10ppm GO INDIC
Jan-21 56.32 / 56.48
Feb-21 56.40 / 56.56
Mar-21 56.52 / 56.72
Apr-21 56.67 / 56.87
May-21 56.80 / 57.00
Jun-21 56.88 / 57.08
Q1-21 56.40 / 56.60
Q2-21 56.75 / 57.15
Q3-21 57.16 / 57.56
Q4-21 57.25 / 57.65
CAL21 56.86 / 57.26
ICE Gasoil 10ppm INDIC
Jan-21 421.50 / 422.50
Feb-21 423.50 / 424.50
Mar-21 425.25 / 426.25
Apr-21 426.25 / 427.75
May-21 427.00 / 428.50
Jun-21 428.50 / 430.00
Q1-21 423.25 / 428.75
Q2-21 426.75 / 433.75
Q3-21 431.00 / 436.25
Q4-21 433.25 / 438.75
CAL21 428.25 / 431.25
Sing 380 cst INDIC
Jan-21 304.00 / 306.00
Feb-21 302.00 / 304.00
Mar-21 300.75 / 302.75
Apr-21 298.00 / 300.00
May-21 295.25 / 297.25
Jun-21 292.25 / 294.25
Q1-21 301.75 / 304.75
Q2-21 294.50 / 298.00
Q3-21 285.75 / 289.75
Q4-21 278.50 / 283.00
CAL21 289.50 / 294.50
Rotterdam 3.5% INDIC
Jan-21 285.75 / 287.75
Feb-21 284.75 / 286.75
Mar-21 283.50 / 285.50
Apr-21 280.75 / 282.75
May-21 277.75 / 279.75
Jun-21 274.50 / 276.50
Q1-21 284.25 / 287.25
Q2-21 277.00 / 280.50
Q3-21 267.00 / 271.00
Q4-21 258.50 / 263.00
CAL21 271.00 / 276.00