Bunker fuel benchmarks have mostly moved down, and New York is expected to face high wind gusts over the weekend.

IMAGE: Aerial view of Port Newark. Getty Images

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

• VLSFO prices up in Zona Comun ($8/mt), unchanged in Houston and Los Angeles, and down in Balboa ($4/mt) and New York ($3/mt)
• LSMGO prices up in Zona Comun and Balboa ($7/mt), and down in New York ($36/mt), Houston ($15/mt) and Los Angeles ($8/mt)
• HSFO prices down in Houston ($22/mt), Balboa ($5/mt), New York ($3/mt) and Los Angeles ($2/mt)

Zona Comun's LSMGO and VLSFO price benchmarks have defied Brent's downward movement and moved up in the past session.

Both fuel grades have good availability at the anchorage location, with suppliers recommending around 5–7 days lead time for deliveries.

New York's VLSFO price benchmark has fallen by $3/mt and is currently at a discount of $21/mt to Houston, up from $16/mt a month ago.

Lead times for HSFO have shortened in New York this week, with suppliers now recommending 3–4 days, down from at least five days last week. VLSFO and LSMGO can also be supplied with the same lead times in the port.

Over the weekend, New York is expected to experience intermittent bouts of high wind gusts blowing between 17–19 knots, which can cause minor disruptions to bunkering operations.

Brent

The front-month ICE Brent contract has lost $0.51/bbl on the day, to trade at $66.73/bbl at 08.00 CDT (13.00 GMT).

Upward pressure:

Brent’s price has gained some support following the latest trade data from China.

The country has imported a total of about 326.6 million mt of crude in the first seven months of this year, about 2.8% higher than the corresponding period in 2024, market intelligence provider JLC reported, citing data from the General Administration of Customs (GACC).

Higher crude oil imports can signal demand growth in the second-largest crude oil consumer of the world. This can support Brent’s price growth, according to analysts.

Downward pressure:

Brent crude’s price has declined amid growing expectations that the US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will meet soon to discuss a potential resolution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The meeting could take place “as soon as next week,” remarked two analysts from ING Bank. However, it is unclear if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will take part in the discussions.

This development holds significance for the global oil market, as Trump has been pressing for a ceasefire in Ukraine and has threatened secondary tariffs on buyers of Russian oil.

“This [meeting] is important because it could affect the secondary tariffs on India, depending on how discussions go,” the two analysts added.

By Gautamee Hazarika and Aparupa Mazumder

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