Americas Market Update 19 Nov 2025

Bunker price benchmarks have dipped across Americas ports, and HSFO availability is tightening in Panama.

IMAGE: Cargo port with cranes and shipping containers along the entrance to the Panama Canal, with Panama city in the background. Getty Images

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

• VLSFO prices down in Los Angeles ($11/mt), Balboa ($8/mt), Houston, Zona Comun ($5/mt) and New York ($3/mt)
• LSMGO prices up in Balboa ($16/mt) and New York Balboa ($2/mt), and down in Los Angeles ($18/mt), Zona Comun ($13/mt) and Houston ($6/mt)
• HSFO prices down in Balboa ($43/mt), Houston ($10/mt), New York ($7/mt) and Los Angeles ($5/mt)

Prices for conventional fuels in key Americas ports have tracked Brent’s downward movement, except for LSMGO in New York and Balboa. Those two benchmarks have defied the general market trend and gained in the past session.

Balboa’s HSFO price has fallen the most in the past day, losing almost $50/mt in a single day. A lower-priced 500-1,500 mt LSMGO stem fixed at $397/mt has weighed on the benchmark.

Balboa's HSFO price premium over Houston has shrunk to just $5/mt, and it has flipped from premiums to discounts of $24/mt to Los Angeles and $29/mt to New York.

Balboa's Hi5 spread has jumped by $35/mt on the day, to $64/mt.

Meanwhile, HSFO availability has tightened in Panamanian ports, according to a trader.

Brent

The front-month ICE Brent contract has fallen by $1.12/bbl on the day, to trade at $63.12/bbl at 07.00 CST (13.00 GMT) today.

Upward pressure:

Oil prices have risen as supply risks have emerged as the dominant driver of the global oil market.

The European Union’s (EU) renewed hardline stance on Russia has revived concerns about the possibility of tighter sanctions on the OPEC+ group.

Top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas remarked yesterday that Moscow’s aggression against the EU, including an explosion in Poland, should be treated as terrorism, Bloomberg reported.

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday that foreign intelligence services orchestrated an explosion on a railway line used to transport aid to Ukraine. Later, spokesman Jacek Dobrzynski said that "everything points to them being Russian special services", according to a BBC report.

“Language markets interpreted [Kallas’ comments] as raising the odds of further sanctions,” Vanda Insights’ founder Vandana Hari said.

These remarks come as the US sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil producers – Lukoil and Rosneft – are set to take effect shortly.

“Market participants appear more concerned about supply risks than the odds of a surplus going forward,” two analysts from ING Bank remarked.

Downward pressure:

The latest crude stocks report by the American Petroleum Institute (API) has put some downward pressure on Brent’s price today.

US crude oil inventories gained by 4.4 million bbls in the week ending 14 November, according to the API.

This was the third straight weekly build in inventories. A build in US crude stocks typically indicates lower demand for oil and can put downward pressure on Brent.

“The market will be more focused on the release of the widely followed US Energy Information Administration (EIA) inventory numbers later today,” ING Bank’s analysts said.

By Samantha Shaji and Aparupa Mazumder

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