Bunker prices have eased back down with lower crude values in the Americas, and periods of strong wind gusts in Bolivar Roads could hold back deliveries.

IMAGE: A vessel moving into Galveston Bay from the Gulf of Mexico. Getty Images

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

• VLSFO prices down in Zona Comun ($11/mt), Los Angeles ($6/mt), Houston ($4/mt), New York and Balboa ($3/mt)
• LSMGO prices steady in New York, and down in Houston ($9/mt), Balboa ($8/mt), Los Angeles ($7/mt) and Zona Comun ($5/mt)
• HSFO prices up in Balboa ($8/mt), and down in Houston, Los Angeles ($4/mt) and New York ($1/mt)

VLSFO benchmarks are down across major ports, and Houston’s price is at $20-50/mt discounts to other ports. Houston has had 10 firm VLSFO offers in a wide range of $484-510/mt in the past session, with most providing upward counterpressure against declining Brent crude.

Houston’s LSMGO is at even greater discounts of $70/mt to New York and $127/mt to Los Angeles, while the discount of $34/mt to Balboa is narrower.

Several suppliers have tight prompt availability in various US Gulf Coast locations. Two suppliers’ earliest delivery dates for VLSFO and LSMGO in Houston and Bolivar Roads are 4-6 days out.

HSFO and LSMGO can be booked in Corpus Christi with a 2-3day lead time.

Southeasterly wind gusts of up to 20 knots in Bolivar Roads on Monday and Tuesday could prevent barges from attending. But waves and swells are only set to max out at 0.6 metres, so that is relatively stable. Wind gusts are forecast to hit 18-19 knots in periods for the rest of the week, but from other directions.

Brent

Front-month ICE Brent has come off by $1.11/bbl on the day since Friday, and traded at $66.12/bbl at 08.00 CDT (13.00 GMT) today.

Upward pressure:

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

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.

Brent has also gotten a lift from the European Commission’s (EC) proposed 19th sanctions package against Russia.

The EC has sanctioned 118 additional vessels that are allegedly part of the shadow fleet. This will raise 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.

OPEC+ members are steadily restoring oil output. The Saudi Arabia-led coalition has agreed to collectively increase supply by 137,000 b/d in October – marking the sixth consecutive time that they plan to raise production.

By Erik Hoffmann and Aparupa Mazumder

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