Americas Market Update 14 Sep

Bunker fuel prices have moved upwards, and advisories have been issued by the US National Hurricane Center for two tropical storms in the Eastern Pacific.

IMAGE: Brooklyn waterfront with shipping containers and cranes. Getty Images

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

• VLSFO prices up in Balboa ($50/mt), New York ($34/mt), Houston ($29/mt), Zona Comun ($28/mt) and Los Angeles ($26/mt)
• LSMGO prices up in Houston ($82/mt), New York, Balboa ($70/mt), Los Angeles ($54/mt) and Zona Comun ($5/mt)
• HSFO prices up in Los Angeles ($41/mt), New York ($26/mt), Balboa ($17/mt) and Houston ($10/mt)

New York's LSMGO price surged over the past session after a higher-priced, 50-150 mt stem, fixed at $1,550/mt, pushed the benchmark up.

The East Coast port has seen steady demand for HSFO and VLSFO, while LSMGO offtake has dropped off slightly from the past few weeks.

Availability has been decent across the grades, with HSFO requiring lead times of 5-7 days, VLSFO around four days, and LSMGO mostly available within 2-3 days.

The US National Hurricane Center has issued advisories for Tropical Storms Norbert and Fifteen-E in the Eastern Pacific.

Balboa's VLSFO price has increased the most among the grade across other major hubs in the Americas. A higher-priced, 150-500 mt stem, booked at $799/mt, put upward pressure on the benchmark.

The price movement has widened the port's Hi5 spread to $107/mt today, from $74/mt on Friday.

Brent

The front-month ICE Brent contract has gained $4.64/bbl on the day from Friday, trading at $108.90/bbl at 08.00 CDT (13.00 GMT) today.

Upward pressure:

Brent crude’s price has shot up this week, amid supply disruption concerns and repeated vessel attacks near the Strait of Hormuz.

Another commercial vessel, carrying 14 Indian seafarers, came under a missile attack off the coast of Oman yesterday, leaving one crewmember missing, India’s Ministry of External Affairs reported.

In another news, Saudi Arabia has temporarily ceased flows via its 1,200 km East-West Pipeline, after Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militants targeted it last week. The news has put further upward pressure on Brent’s price.

“Following last week's developments, it’s not surprising that oil prices are trading higher,” two analysts from ING Bank noted.

Downward pressure:

Brent crude’s price has felt some downward pressure after Baker Hughes reported a rise in US crude oil rig activity.

The total number of rigs drilling for crude oil in the US increased by one over the week to 450 units last week.

The US oil rig count is seen as an indicator of future oil production. It reflects how much oil drilling activity is happening or expected to happen in the shale sector.

By Gautamee Hazarika and Aparupa Mazumder

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