Most prices in East of Suez ports have moved down, and prompt availability of all grades remains tight in the UAE ports of Fujairah and Khor Fakkan.

IMAGE: Harbour craft in front of an oil tanker in Fujairah. Port of Fujairah

Changes on the day to 17.00 SGT (09.00 GMT) today:

• VLSFO prices down in Zhoushan ($7/mt), Singapore ($5/mt) and Fujairah ($1/mt)
• LSMGO prices up in Zhoushan ($6/mt) and Singapore ($1/mt), and down in Fujairah ($7/mt)
• HSFO prices down in Fujairah, Zhoushan ($5/mt) and Singapore ($1/mt)
• B24-VLSFO at a $218/mt premium over VLSFO in Singapore
• B24-VLSFO at a $240/mt premium over VLSFO in Fujairah

VLSFO benchmarks in East of Suez ports have dropped by $1–7/mt over the past day, with Zhoushan recording the sharpest fall. Even after the decline, Zhoushan’s VLSFO price remains at a premium of $20/mt over Fujairah and $14/mt over Singapore.

Fujairah’s LSMGO price has come down by $7/mt in the past day, while prices in Zhoushan and Singapore have edged up. Despite the price drop, Fujairah's LSMGO continues to command strong premiums of $67/mt and $43/mt over Singapore and Zhoushan, respectively.

Prompt bunker supply in Fujairah remains tight across all grades, with lead times of 5–7 days recommended, and similar conditions are reported at the nearby Khor Fakkan port.

In contrast, Oman’s ports — including Sohar, Salalah, Muscat and Duqm — are maintaining stable LSMGO availability.

Brent
The front-month ICE Brent contract has lost by $0.29/bbl on the day, to trade at $68.86/bbl at 17.00 SGT (09.00 GMT).

Upward pressure:

Brent’s price has found some support as geopolitical tensions remain in focus.

The US has imposed sanctions on a network of shipping companies and nine vessels for allegedly smuggling Iranian oil disguised as Iraqi oil.

By tightening sanctions, the Trump-led US administration aims to reinforce its push to cut the OPEC producer’s oil exports to zero.

Besides, risks to oil supply have intensified as Russia and Ukraine continue cross-border shelling. “This [attacks] comes as the US looks to increase sanctions on Russia to force it to the negotiating table,” remarked ANZ Bank’s senior commodity strategist Daniel Hynes.

Over the weekend, Ukraine struck two major oil refineries in Russia while Moscow carried out a massive attack on 14 regions of Ukraine, according to media reports.

“US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that US would examine possible penalties against Moscow this week,” Hynes added.

Downward pressure:

Brent futures came under downward pressure as market analysts turned their focus to the upcoming OPEC+ meeting on Sunday.

The group is “expected to keep output levels unchanged,” according to two analysts from ING Bank.

The global oil market is bracing for a potential surplus as the Vienna-based group has accelerated the rollback of 2.2 million b/d in voluntary output cuts over the past six months, moving faster than originally planned.

“The bigger risk is OPEC+ deciding to reinstate supply cuts, given concerns about a surplus,” the two analysts added.

By Tuhin Roy and Aparupa Mazumder

Please get in touch with comments or additional info to news@engine.online