Bunker fuel prices have mostly moved in mixed directions, and bunkering may face delays at Argentina's Zona Comun through Sunday.

IMAGE: The San Pedro Bay Port Complex, US. Port of Los Angeles

Changes on the day to 03.00 CST (9.00 GMT) today:

• VLSFO prices up in Los Angeles ($4/mt) and Houston ($2/mt), and down in Zona Comun ($3/mt), New York ($2/mt) and Balboa ($1/mt)
• LSMGO prices up in Los Angeles ($10/mt) and New York ($4/mt), and down in Zona Comun ($7/mt), Balboa ($5/mt) and Houston ($1/mt)
• HSFO prices up in Los Angeles and Houston ($1/mt), and down in New York and Balboa ($1/mt)

Los Angeles’ VLSFO price benchmark has recorded the highest gains in the past day, putting it at a premium of $78/mt to Houston and $30/mt to New York.

The port has noticed an improvement in demand this week, and container ships expected at the port has increased to 19 for the upcoming week, compared to 17 this week.

All three fuel grades are available at Los Angeles, with lead times of 5–7 days.

On the other hand, the Panama bunker fuel market has reported some tightness in HSFO availability. Lead times have extended from 7–8 days to 8–10 days, a local supplier has informed ENGINE. As for VLSFO and LSMGO, availability remains fairly good with lead times of 3–5 days.

In Zona Comun, weather conditions have been rough, with the anchorage experiencing high wind gusts blowing between 20–25 knots. Bunkering at the anchorage is expected to face delays and disruptions between 6 - 9 November, a source has said.

Brent

The front-month ICE Brent contract has moved $0.33/bbl lower on the day, to trade at $64.23/bbl at 03.00 CST (9.00 GMT) today.

Upward pressure:

Brent’s price has felt some upward pressure, following the recent western sanctions on Russian oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft.

According to ANZ Bank’s senior commodity strategist, Daniel Hynes, Russia’s seaborne crude shipments decreased the most since January 2024, with four-week average volumes at 3.58 million b/d for the period ending 2 November.

Lukoil and Rosneft are Russia’s two biggest oil producers. The US and UK sanctions have helped ease some market concerns about a potential supply glut anticipated in 2026.

“There are clear and obvious risks [to supply] in the form of potential disruptions to Russian oil flows," remarked ING Bank’s head of commodities strategy, Warren Patterson.

Downward pressure:

Brent crude’s price has moved lower after the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a big build in crude stocks.

Commercial US crude oil inventories have gained by 5.2 million bbls to 421 million bbls for the week ending 31 October, according to data from the EIA.

Yesterday, the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a larger build of 6.5 million bbls for the same week.

“Oil prices settled lower yesterday with a large increase in US crude oil inventories,” Patterson said.

A build in US crude stocks typically indicates lower demand for oil and can put some downward pressure on Brent's price.  

By Gautamee Hazarika and Aparupa Mazumder

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