Fuel prices have moved in mixed directions, and potential suspensions are expected in Zona Comun over the week.

IMAGE: Container ship leaving the Port of Houston at Morgan's Point. Getty Images

Changes on the day to 07.00 CST (13.00 GMT) today:

• VLSFO prices up in Balboa ($56/mt), and down in Los Angeles ($28/mt), New York ($27/mt) and Houston ($5/mt)
• LSMGO prices up in New York ($11/mt), and down in Zona Comun ($64/mt), Los Angeles ($45/mt), Houston ($33/mt) and Balboa ($15/mt)
• HSFO prices up in New York ($4/mt), and down in Los Angeles ($23/mt), Balboa ($16/mt) and Houston ($5/mt)

Houston's VLSFO price has declined over the past day, following a lower-priced, 500-1,500 mt stem booked at $729/mt, which has potentially pushed the benchmark down.

The port's LSMGO price has also declined after two lower-priced stems of 150-500 mt were fixed at $1,248/mt and $1,230/mt.

Bunker demand has been steady in Houston. HSFO and LSMGO availability is normal, while a few suppliers have reported tight spots in VLSFO deliveries. Recommended lead times for HSFO and LSMGO are 5-7 days, while VLSFO requires around seven days' notice.

The US Gulf Coast has entered its sea fog season, and dense fog could cause delays and disruptions at the port, the trader said.

In Zona Comun, deliveries could be suspended between 12-14 November due to high wind gusts. Operations are halted when wind speeds exceed 20 knots.

Brent

The front-month ICE Brent contract has lost $4.48/bbl on the day, trading at $89.93/bbl at 07.00 CST (13.00 GMT) today.

Upward pressure:

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy confirmed an attack on the country’s East-West oil pipeline in the Medina region on 9 November. The pipeline allows Saudi Arabia to export crude oil via the Red Sea, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.

“Oil’s political sell-off masks a dangerous reality,” Kpler’s head of Middle East and OPEC+ insights, Amena Bakr, wrote in an opinion piece for Arabian Gulf Business Insight.

Despite the price decline, threats to the Middle East’s energy infrastructure, shipping routes and crude exports from the Gulf remain unchanged, Bakr noted.

Iran has ruled out transferring enriched uranium out of the country, state-owned news agency IRNA reported, citing Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei. His comments follow a report by Saudi-owned Al Arabiya that a Qatari-Pakistani mediation proposal had revived negotiations around Iran's nuclear program.

Downward pressure:

US President Donald Trump has suggested that the US-Israel war with Iran could end soon.

"... they are talking to us. And they are talking very politely. And we'll see what happens. But there's a good chance that that could get ended,” Trump said in a media briefing following talks with Qatar’s prime minister in Washington, DC.

Prospects of de-escalation and renewed diplomatic efforts over Iran’s nuclear programme have put downward pressure on Brent’s price, which has fallen around 15% over the past week, down $15.83/bbl, from $106.42/bbl.

By Gautamee Hazarika and Konica Bhatt

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