MABUX: Bunker Market On the Up

Oil rallies on Wednesday as U.S. gasoline inventory draw offsets crude build. Oil futures climbed more than 1 percent on Wednesday after U.S. data showing a deep decline in gasoline stocks overrode a rise in crude inventories to 17-month highs, and as an OPEC report showed further tightening of Venezuela’s crude supply.

U.S. crude stockpiles last week rose to their highest level since November 2017 as imports grew, while gasoline inventories posted the steepest drawdown since September 2017, the Energy Information Administration said.

Crude inventories swelled by 7 million barrels last week, far surpassing forecasts for an increase of 2.3 million barrels. Gasoline stocks, however, fell 7.7 million barrels, more than triple the 2-million-barrel drop analysts had expected.

‘Even though the crude oil inventory rise was nearly equal in size, the focus of the complex, as we head into peak summer driving season, is gasoline,’ said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC in New York.

U.S. sanctions on oil exporters Iran and Venezuela, as well as supply cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, known as OPEC+, also boosted prices.

An OPEC monthly report released on Wednesday showed that Venezuela’s oil output sank last month to a long-term low below 1 million barrels per day, due to U.S. sanctions and blackouts.

Thursday morning

Oil prices fall on surging U.S. crude supply, economic slowdown

Oil prices fell on Thursday, pressured as U.S. crude stockpiles surged to their highest levels in almost 17 months amid record production and as economic concerns cast doubt over growth in demand for fuel.

U.S. crude inventories rose 7 million barrels to 456.6 million barrels in the last week, their highest since November 2017, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

U.S. crude oil production remained at a record 12.2 million barrels per day (bpd), making the United States the world’s biggest oil producer ahead of Russia and Saudi Arabia.

There are also concerns that an economic slowdown will soon dent fuel consumption after the International Monetary Fund this week downgraded its global growth forecast to the lowest in a decade.

Oil Future close at 10th April:

Brent: $71.73(+1.12)pbr
WTI: $64.61(+0.63)pbr
MGO: $627(+4.75)/mton
NY Harbor Ulsd: $642.69(+13.15)/mton

Oil Futures trading at GMT: 08.24; Brent: -32 cents, WTI: -44 cents

Expect bunker prices to rise. ICE related: Fuel Oil +7 usd/mton, MGO +5 usd/mton
NYMEX related: Fuel Oil +4 usd/mton, NY Harbor Ulsd +13 usd/mton

The general tendency is slowly upward.

Source:hellenicshippingnews.com