Wed 27 Dec 2017, 10:00 GMT

Oil and fuel oil hedging market update


By the Oil Desk at Freight Investor Services.



Commentary

Brent closed last night at $67.02, WTI closed at $59.97. Wow. Did Wall St get the Christmas song mixed up? All I want for Christmas is crude? What a Christmas gift for the bulls with news of a pipeline explosion in Libya. Quite whether this was some technical traders taking advantage of London stuffing their faces with bubble and squeak and leftover Turkey is anyone's guess. I wonder though - what with the Forties pipeline restarting soon, London waddling back in and the Es Sider pipe that was sabotaged coming back online as soon as mid Jan, will the market readjust as quick as it is to spike? Probably not is the answer, I think. I still feel it is hope more than facts that are making people think the market balance is tighter than it actually is. But on its merry way it goes and as soon as news of a crude supply disruption breaks, the market jumps on it quicker than people who overindulge at Christmas sign up for a January gym membership. Quite how US oil production is being happily ignored when it is more than capable of plugging any supply deficits is beyond me, but 'ignorance is bliss' seems to be the phrase of 2017 if you're a crude producer outside of the US. Expect some volatility in the coming days on fairly thin trading.

Fuel Oil Market (December 22)

The front crack opened at -8.65, weakening to -8.75 across the day. The Cal 18 was valued at -8.10.

Singapore 380 cSt

Jan18 - 374.50 / 376.50

Feb18 - 373.75 / 375.75

Mar18 - 373.50 / 375.50

Apr18 - 373.00 / 375.00

May18 - 372.50 / 374.50

Jun18 - 372.50 / 374.50

Q1-18 - 374.00 / 376.00

Q2-18 - 372.50 / 374.50

Q3-18 - 368.50 / 371.00

Q4-18 - 363.75 / 366.25

CAL18 - 369.50 / 372.50

CAL19 - 333.25 / 338.25

Singapore 180 cSt

Jan18 - 378.50 / 380.50

Feb18 - 378.25 / 380.25

Mar18 -378.50 / 380.50

Apr18 - 378.25 / 380.25

May18 - 377.75 / 379.75

Jun18 - 377.00 / 379.00

Q1-18 - 378.50 / 380.50

Q2-18 - 377.75 / 379.75

Q3-18 - 374.25 / 376.75

Q4-18 - 3369.75 / 372.25

CAL18 - 375.00 / 378.00

CAL19 - 342.00 / 347.00

Rotterdam Barges

Jan18 360.50 / 362.50

Feb18 359.75 / 361.75

Mar18 359.50 / 361.50

Apr18 359.00 / 361.00

May18 358.00 / 360.00

Jun18 358.00 / 360.00

Q1-18 360.00 / 362.00

Q2-18 358.00 / 360.00

Q3-18 352.75 / 355.25

Q4-18 343.75 / 346.25

CAL18 354.00 / 357.00

CAL19 312.25 / 317.25


United LNG I bunker vessel alongside Blue Aspire vessel. Titan charters 8,000-cbm LNG bunker vessel for ZARA region operations  

United LNG I to deliver LNG and bio-LNG across Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp and Zeebrugge ports.

Flag of Mauritania. Peninsula begins physical bunker supply operations in Mauritania  

Marine fuel supplier operating two barges following licence award from the Mauritanian National Hydrocarbons Commission.

X-Press Cassiopeia vessel. PuriFire Energy signs biomethanol supply deal with X-Press Feeders  

Letter of intent covers up to 15,000 tonnes annually for feeder carrier’s fleet.

Alan Yang and Yujin Kang, Flex Commodities. FLEX Commodities opens Seoul office with new Korea leadership team  

Dubai-based trader establishes South Korea presence with appointments of Alan Yang and Yujin Kang.

Eng. Sulaiman Ali Al Hadhrami, O Bunkering. O Bunkering appoints Sulaiman Alhadhrami as chief executive officer  

Omani bunker supplier names new CEO to lead growth and expansion in the maritime sector.

Shore power system. Zhoushan expands shore power infrastructure as part of emissions reduction drive  

Chinese port city reports 30% increase in shore power usage across terminals and berths.

Hamburg Express vessel. Hapag-Lloyd and Kuehne+Nagel partner on biofuel initiative for Asia-Europe trade  

Agreement covers 3,300-teu using waste-based biofuels, targeting a 2,979-tonne CO₂e reduction in 2026.

Rendering of a tug vessel. Berg Propulsion to supply electric propulsion systems for India’s green tugs  

Swedish firm to provide thrusters and electrical integration for two 60-tonne bollard pull battery-electric vessels.

Singapore skyline with Merlion and central business district. World Fuel seeks marine fuel supply executive in Singapore  

Role to manage supplier relationships and source marine fuel across South-East Asia and Australia-New Zealand.

OOCL Wisdom naming ceremony. OOCL names first methanol dual-fuel vessel  

Orient Overseas Container Line christens OOCL Wisdom, dubbed the world’s largest methanol dual-fuel container vessel.