Keeping an eye on bunkers. Your weekly bunker update powered by InterContinental Bunkering.
Brent rose 12 cents, or 0.3%, to $45.98 a barrel by 3:35 am GMT, while WTI remained steady at $43.35 a barrel.
The back-to-back tropical storms Marco and Laura have seen upstream operators shut about 1.558 million b/d of oil, or 84.3% of offshore production, by August 25, according to the latest data from the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
Platts reported that prominent oil refineries, such as Motiva’s more than 600,000 b/d refinery and chemical operations in Port Arthur, Texas, ExxonMobil’s 366,000 b/d in neighboring Beaumont, and Valero’s 335,000 b/d Port Arthur Refinery will also be closed. In total, approximately 1.8 million b/d in US oil refining capacity, or nearly 18% of total US Gulf Coast refinery capacity, is expected to come offline.
According to Stephen Innes, chief global markets strategist at AxiCorp, markets are currently pricing in a possible near-term catastrophic gasoline shortage. Meanwhile, US and Chinese officials reaffirmed their commitment to a Phase 1 trade deal, which has seen China lagging on its obligations to buy American goods, potentially boosting flows between the world’s two largest oil consumers.
Elsewhere, inventory report by the American Petroleum Institute showed a larger-than-expected drawdown in both US commercial crude supplies and gasoline inventories. US crude inventories fell by 4.52 million barrels over the last week, much more than the 2.5 million barrels drawdown the market expected. Gasoline inventories fell by 6.39 million barrels, largely surpassing the 1.75 million barrels draw the market was expecting, seemingly providing some support to the RBOB, according to ING analysts. Still, market participants will be looking for cues from a more definitive inventory report by the US Energy Information Administration, due later today.
There is a certain consensus on expectations of short term price movements determined by the extent of any damage caused by the hurricanes and then
bolstered by the support from broader risk markets once the hurricane price pressure eases. Nevertheless, any price rally in the global crude complex continues to be capped by rising COVID-19 cases worldwide, and the resulting demand uncertainty and oversupply. Analysts predict that only significant progress on the discovery of a vaccine will be the major breakthrough for oil prices.
See your weekly worldwide bunker price /indications here:
Loading…Prices quoted in US$ per mT and are purely indicative and only to be used as guidance. Prices in cursive are of a previous date. Other ports are available upon request. For last price updates and/or updates on product availability & earliest delivery dates, do not hesitate to contact us as markets are volatile. www.icbunkering.com