Americas Market Update 31 Aug

Fuel prices have moved in mixed directions, and possible disruptions are expected in Zona Comun through Thursday.

IMAGE: Container ship near Houston. Port Houston

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

• VLSFO prices up in Zona Comun ($21/mt), Balboa ($13/mt), New York ($12/mt) and Houston ($5/mt), and down in Los Angeles ($40/mt)
• LSMGO prices up in Balboa ($18/mt), New York ($9/mt), and down in Los Angeles ($62/mt), Zona Comun ($9/mt) and Houston ($1/mt)
• HSFO prices up in Balboa ($20/mt), and down in Los Angeles ($23/mt), Houston ($5/mt) and New York ($3/mt)

Houston's LSMGO price has climbed down after a lower-priced 150–500 mt stem, fixed at $1,210/mt, has weighed on the benchmark.

Bunker fuel demand is steady in Houston, and fuel availability at the port remains normal. VLSFO and LSMGO can be delivered within lead times of 4–5 days.

HSFO is a bit tight at the port, with suppliers recommending at least seven days of lead time for deliveries.

In Zona Comun, possible disruptions are expected through 3 September due to high wind gusts. A few bunker deliveries may face delays to bunkering operations.

Deliveries remain normal, and most suppliers are asking for 5–7 days of lead time.

Brent

The front-month ICE Brent contract has gained by $1.60/bbl on the day from Friday, trading at $90.69/bbl at 08.00 CDT (13.00 GMT) today.

Upward pressure:

Brent crude’s price has opened the week ahead of the $90/bbl mark as Washington and Tehran target each other in a fresh round of airstrikes.

The US army has struck Iranian missile launchers on Iran’s Larak Island, amid threats that Iran was to launch mines into the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, Tehran has retaliated by attacking US bases in Jordan and US military assets in the UAE, Al Jazeera reported.

This flare-up marks the first active fire exchange between Washington and Tehran since late July.

Oil prices gained after “the US carried out targeted strikes against Iran, drawing retaliatory strikes and reinforcing concerns about a prolonged stalemate in the Persian Gulf,” two analysts from ING Bank noted.

Downward pressure:

While there are no major downward pressures acting on Brent’s price today, the market will keep an eye out for any development in the formalisation of the Iran-Oman temporary navigational corridor through the Strait of Hormuz.

The development will support the restoration of some commercial navigation through the waterway that once carried one-fifth of global seaborne oil flows, market analysts said.

By Gautamee Hazarika and Aparupa Mazumder

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