Prices in East of Suez ports have moved in mixed directions, while bunkering operations at several Taiwanese ports could face disruptions due to Typhoon Ragasa.

IMAGE: The coastal urban landscape of the port of Kaohsiung in Taiwan. Getty Images

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

• VLSFO prices up in Zhoushan ($4/mt) and Fujairah ($2/mt), and down in Singapore ($4/mt)
• LSMGO prices up in Zhoushan ($7/mt), unchanged in Fujairah, and down in Singapore ($6/mt)
• HSFO prices up in Zhoushan ($3/mt) and Fujairah ($1/mt), and down in Singapore ($2/mt)
• B24-VLSFO at a $245/mt premium over VLSFO in Singapore
• B24-VLSFO at a $253/mt premium over VLSFO in Fujairah

Zhoushan and Fujairah’s VLSFO prices have edged higher over the weekend, while Singapore’s benchmark has decreased some. Zhoushan’s VLSFO is priced at premiums of $30/mt and $25/mt over Singapore and Fujairah, respectively.

Bunker demand in Zhoushan remains weak, with VLSFO lead times steady at 4–7 days. HSFO and LSMGO lead times are also unchanged at 4–7 days.

In Taiwan, VLSFO and LSMGO deliveries currently require around 4–5 days at Taichung, Kaohsiung and Hualien, while Keelung requires slightly less time of about three days. Last week, recommended lead times across these ports were 2–3 days. The increase is linked to the approach of Typhoon Ragasa.

Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration (CWA) has maintained both sea and land warnings for Ragasa, which is expected to be closest to the island from Monday afternoon and have its greatest impact through Tuesday. According to Taiwan’s Maritime Port Bureau, several sailings have already been cancelled.

Brent

The front-month ICE Brent contract has declined by $0.34/bbl on the day from Friday, to trade at $66.79/bbl at 17.00 SGT (09.00 GMT).

Upward pressure:

The ongoing Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil facilities have added some risks to supply, and put upward pressure to Brent today.

Several major oil facilities in Russia, including one of the country’s largest oil exporting terminals in Primorsk, came under attack last week. These airstrikes have caused some refinery and pipeline closures, according to market analysts.

“Concerns remain that recent attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure will impact supplies,” remarked ANZ Bank’s senior commodity strategist Daniel Hynes.

Besides, Brent’s price has moved higher after the European Commission (EC) proposed its 19th package of economic sanctions against Russia.

The EC has sanctioned 118 additional vessels that are allegedly a part of Russia’s shadow fleet, raising the total number of sanctioned shadow fleet vessels carrying Russian oil to more than 560, it said.

Downward pressure:

Weighing on Brent’s price, the total number of rigs drilling for crude oil and natural gas in the US rose by three last week to 542 units, according to Baker Hughes.

Specifically, oil rigs increased by two to 418, while gas rigs held steady at 118. This uptick has eased some supply concerns and added downward pressure on Brent crude.

Oversupply concerns, as OPEC+ members steadily restore production, have capped Brent’s price gains.

The Saudi Arabia-led coalition agreed to collectively increase supply by 137,000 b/d in October – marking the sixth consecutive time that they plan to expedite production.

By Tuhin Roy and Aparupa Mazumder

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