Americas Market Update 1 Oct

Prices have moved in mixed directions, while fuel availability at the port of Balboa is good.
IMAGE: Container loading area in the port of Balboa. Getty Images

Changes on the day to 08.00 CDT (13.00 GMT) today:

• VLSFO prices down in Zona Comun ($33/mt), Houston, Los Angeles and Balboa ($15/mt), and New York ($3/mt)
• LSMGO prices up in Los Angeles ($14/mt) and New York ($7/mt), and down in Balboa ($132/mt), Zona Comun ($51/mt) and Houston ($5/mt)
• HSFO prices up in Los Angeles ($7/mt) and Balboa ($4/mt), and down in New York ($9/mt) and Houston ($5/mt)

VLSFO prices have declined across all major ports in the Americas over the past day. At the port of Los Angeles, HSFO and LSMGO prices have increased despite Brent's downward movement, while the port's VLSFO price has declined by $15/mt.

Two lower-priced, 150-500 mt stems, booked at $992/mt and $988/mt, may have weighed on the benchmark.

Fuel availability at the port is decent, with suppliers recommending lead times of 6-8 days for HSFO and VLSFO, while LSMGO can be delivered within 5-7 days, a trader said.

Balboa's VLSFO price has declined by the same amount as Los Angeles, while the port's HSFO price has inched up, narrowing the Hi5 spread to $33/mt today, from $52/mt on Wednesday.

Availability at the port is good, with all three fuel grades deliverable within 3-6 days, a source said.

Brent

The front-month ICE Brent contract has lost $3.19/bbl on the day, trading at $99.80/bbl at 08.00 CDT (13.00 GMT) today.

Upward pressure:

Brent crude’s price has felt some upward pressure after US President Donald Trump rejected claims of easing economic sanctions on Tehran by releasing frozen Iranian funds.

The US President also threatened that he “may blow up Iran,” if a deal is not reached soon.

The global oil market has become increasingly familiar with Trump’s maximalist rhetoric, where aggressive warnings routinely trigger sharp knee-jerk spikes in Brent’s price even as participants weigh the actual likelihood of an all-out war.

Downward pressure:

Brent crude’s price has moved lower after the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a build in US crude stocks.

Commercial US crude oil inventories increased by around 922,000 bbls to 427.3 million bbls in the week ending 25 September, according to data from the EIA.

Market analysts expected an inventory draw of 455,000 b/d instead, two analysts from ING Bank noted.

A build in US crude stocks typically indicates lower demand for oil and can put some downward pressure on Brent's price.

Yesterday, the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a 1.02 million-bbl rise in US crude stocks during the same week.

“Bearish sentiment was reinforced by the latest EIA data, which showed US commercial crude inventories rising by 922k barrels [922,000 bbls] last week,” ING Bank’s analysts added.

By Gautamee Hazarika and Aparupa Mazumder

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