Americas Market Update 14 Nov 2025

Bunker benchmarks have mostly increased, and bunker operations could face weather-related disruptions in the coming days.

IMAGE: Vessel by Argentina's Zona Comun anchorage by La Plata. Antares

Changes on the day to 07.00 CST (13.00 GMT) today:

• VLSFO prices up in Zona Comun ($14/mt), New York ($13/mt), Balboa ($12/mt) and Houston ($6/mt), and down in Los Angeles ($7/mt)
• LSMGO prices up in Balboa ($31/mt), Zona Comun ($28/mt), New York ($15/mt), Houston and Los Angeles ($6/mt)
• HSFO prices up in Balboa ($11/mt) and New York ($10/mt), and down in Los Angeles ($9/mt) and Houston ($3/mt)

Conventional fuel prices have moved in mixed directions in the past session, but most grades have recorded gains.

LSMGO prices have jumped in Balboa and Zona Comun, while Houston's has made a smaller gain. Two lower-priced LSMGO stems fixed at $697/mt and $707/mt have contributed to keep a lid on Houston's benchmark.

Houston's LSMGO now stands discounts of $342/mt to Zona Comun, $110/mt to Los Angeles, $85/mt to Balboa and $80/mt to New York.

Houston is forecast with calm weather over the weekend and bunker availability is normal. Lead times of 5-7 days are recommended for all fuel grades.

Zona Comun's VLSFO price has gained by $14/mt on the day and moved to premiums of $47-57/mt over Rio Grande and Santos.

The Argentinian anchorage location is forecast with southerly wind gusts of 20-33 knots between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning and then again pick up to 20-30 knots in periods from Monday evening to Wednesday. Waves are only forecast to peak at 0.6 metres, but bunkering could be suspended by the strong winds.

Brent

The front-month ICE Brent contract has gained by $0.77/bbl on the day, to trade at $63.92/bbl at 07.00 CST (13.00 GMT) today.

Upward pressure:

Brent crude has edged higher following renewed Ukrainian drone strikes on key Russian energy infrastructure.

Supply fears have resurfaced after a Ukrainian drone attack hit an oil depot in the major Russian export hub of Novorossiysk, Reuters reported.

The strike has damaged a ship, apartment buildings, an oil depot in Novorossiysk and injured three crew members of the vessel, the report added.

“Crude futures leapt up… on the back of reports of Ukrainian drone strikes causing fire and damage at Russia’s major Black Sea port of Novorossiysk overnight,” remarked VANDA Insights’ founder Vandana Hari.

Downward pressure:

Brent crude’s price has felt some downward pressure after the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported another surge in US crude stocks.

Commercial US crude oil inventories increased by 6.4 million bbls to 428 million bbls for the week ending 7 November, according to data from the EIA.

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

Two analysts from ING Bank said that the EIA report was “bearish” and the inventory build was “larger than expected”.

By Samantha Shaji and Aparupa Mazumder

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