Tue 24 Oct 2017, 09:00 GMT

Oil and fuel oil hedging market update


By the Oil Desk at Freight Investor Services.



Commentary

Brent crude for December delivery was up $10 cents at $57.47 a barrel by 0651 GMT after settling down $38 cents on Monday, and U.S. crude for December delivery was up $6 cents at $51.96. Iraq production is down more than 200,000 bpd, the rig count is down, we have the highest compliance on cuts at 120%, and yet the market is currently trading in negative territory? "But why?" I hear you shout... stage fright. We are in a comfortable range, with an ability of those who desire it to keep prices at a suitable level. Higher as the market dips its toes into the high $50s and looking at $60 it breaks new uncharted ground for U.S. production and its makes it even harder to keep OPEC cut parties in line. It's like leaving chocolate in front of a child - you turn your back for too long and it will be gone. Brent is coming down and going to test the support levels around $57.12; let's see if it has the support to recover from that level once again.

Fuel Oil Market (October 23)

The front crack opened at -7.75, strengthening to -7.70, -7.80, ending at -7.75. The Cal 18 was valued at -8.10.

Asia's fuel oil crack rose to multi week highs, boosted by expectations of tighter supplies by the end of the year partly because of limited arbitrage bookings and lower output from key producers, including Russia and Venezuela. The Nov/Dec time spread of Asia's 380 cSst fuel oil slipped to a one-week low on Friday as inventories across key storage hubs remain elevated.

In addition to higher freight rates making arbitrage flows into Asia less profitable, some of the sources pointed to the reluctance of suppliers to import more cargoes as the current fiscal year draws to an end.Nov 180 crack to Dubai crude narrowed to -$1.91 a barrel, its narrowest discount since Sept. 21. Nov 180 discount to Brent crude narrowed by 26 cents a barrel from Friday to -$3.90, narrowest since Sept. 25.

Russian refinery runs were 5% down in September from the previous month and down 0.9% from the same time last year, down 8.3% from August.

Economic Data/Events: (UK times)

* 8am: France Markit manufacturing PMI SA for Oct., prelim., est. 56 (prior 56.1)

* 8:30am: Germany Markit/BME manufacturing PMI SA for Oct., prelim., est. 60 (prior 60.6)

* 9am: Eurozone Markit manufacturing PMI for Oct., prelim., est. 57.8 (prior 58.1)

* 2:45pm: U.S. Markit manufacturing PMI for Oct., prelim., est. 53.5 (prior 53.1)

* 3pm: U.S. Richmond Fed manufacturing index for Oct., est. 17 (prior 19)

* 9pm: Gustavo Coronel, former member of PDVSA Board of Directors, speaks about Venezuela's oil industry, at Cato Institute, Washington

* 9:30pm: API issues weekly U.S. oil inventory report

* Today:

** OPEC Board of Governors meet, Vienna, final day

** Africa Oil Week, 2nd day of 5

** Bloomberg-compiled weekly snapshot of key U.S. refinery outages with offline capacity projections for CDU, FCC units

** Singapore International Energy Week, 2nd day of 5, including Singapore IEA Forum

Singapore 380 cSt

Nov17 - 332.50 / 334.50

Dec17 - 330.75 / 332.75

Jan18 - 328.75 / 330.75

Feb18 - 327.00 / 329.00

Mar18 - 325.50 / 327.50

Apr18 - 324.00 / 326.00

Q1-18 - 327.25 / 329.25

Q2-18 - 323.25 / 325.25

Q3-18 - 319.00 / 321.50

Q4-18 - 315.00 / 317.50

CAL18 - 321.00 / 324.00

CAL19 - 289.75 / 294.75

CAL20 - 260.50 / 267.50

Singapore 180 cSt

Nov17 - 337.25 / 339.25

Dec17 - 336.00 / 338.00

Jan18 - 334.75 / 336.75

Feb18 - 333.25 / 335.25

Mar18 - 332.00 / 334.00

Apr18 - 330.75 / 332.75

Q1-18 - 333.50 / 335.50

Q2-18 - 330.00 / 332.00

Q3-18 - 325.50 / 328.00

Q4-18 - 322.50 / 325.00

CAL18 - 327.75 / 330.75

CAL19 - 298.75 / 303.75

CAL20 - 269.75 / 276.75

Rotterdam 380 cSt

Nov17 313.00 / 315.00

Dec17 309.00 / 311.00

Jan18 308.50 / 310.50

Feb18 308.25 / 310.25

Mar18 307.75 / 309.75

Apr18 307.25 / 309.25

Q1-18 308.25 / 310.25

Q2-18 306.75 / 308.75

Q3-18 302.75 / 305.25

Q4-18 296.25 / 298.75

CAL18 303.00 / 306.00

CAL19 271.00 / 276.00

CAL20 240.25 / 247.25

BP  

BTB bunker truck. Belgian Trading & Bunkering expands DMA 0.89 truck deliveries in ARA region  

BTB extends marine fuel offerings with truck-based deliveries to meet maritime market demand.

Fuel pathway roundtable meeting participants. ABS convenes roundtable on offshore power barge for Great Lakes emissions reduction  

Meeting brought together ports, academia and industry to advance shore power solution under EPA programme.

Lego Ane Maersk video screenshot. Maersk marks 50-year Lego partnership with dual-fuel vessel model  

Shipping company displays an exhibition of Lego sets spanning five decades at Copenhagen headquarters.

Guo Yun Hai vessel. Cosco Shipping takes delivery of 80,000-dwt methanol-ready grain carrier  

Guo Yun Hai features box-shaped cargo hold and methanol-ready design with energy-saving devices.

CMA CGM Innovation ship-to-ship transfer. Algeciras reports record LNG bunkering volumes, claims European top-three position  

Spanish port says it supplied 333,833 cbm of LNG across 78 ship-to-ship operations in 2025.

Additional costs chart. T&E: Iran conflict costing shipping industry €340m a day in fuel costs  

Transport & Environment analysis shows marine fuel price surge has cost the industry €4.6bn since conflict began.

CF 3850 vessel render. Damen delivers second hybrid-ready combi freighter to German shipowner  

The vessel features biofuel capability and will be retrofitted with wind-assist technology with government funding.

Engine retrofit report 2026 graphic. Retrofit capability expands as regulatory uncertainty slows alternative-fuel conversions  

Lloyd’s Register warns delayed conversions could compress demand into a narrower, costlier timeframe as the fleet ages.

Bermuda Container Line (BCL) logo. Bermuda Container Line imposes emergency bunker surcharge citing Iran War fuel price spike  

Shipping operator to add $150 per TEU charge from 1 May amid geopolitical fuel cost pressures.

China flag. Zhejiang’s first methanol-powered container ship launches in Jiaxing  

Vessel uses methanol propulsion technology to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 90%.