Expert predicts mixed shifts in bunker prices next week
The Bunker Review is contributed to IAA PortNews by Marine Bunker Exchange (MABUX)
For the coming week it seems the oil trading will go sideways due a temporary balance between supply and demand, the Mabux bunker review said.
Brent crude oil on Thursday around $108 a barrel as a strengthening dollar undercut expectations for rising demand following a third weekly drawdown in US crude stocks. The dollar rose versus a basket of currencies, extending overnight gains after US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated plans to roll back economic stimulus by year’s end. – A stronger dollar makes greenback traded commodities more expensive for holders of foreign currencies. – Brent is trading on Thursday in the region of $108 a barrel meanwhile the WTI is trading around the $106 a barrel. The spread between the two most important crude products was at closing on Wednesday only $2.13 a barrel compared to $23.18 a barrel on February 8th. An extraordinary change between the two! In the past Brent and WTI have always been paddling along between $1-3 difference but WTI normally $1-3 more expensive than the Brent. Right now it is the reverse.
US crude inventories showed on Wednesday slumped almost 7 million barrels last week, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), adding to near 20 million barrel draw in the two previous weeks. The demand for crude has increased drastically due to increased export of refined products from the US to South America and Caribbean.
John Kemp, a market analyst working for Reuters, has been looking into what people in Britain think about “Peak oil” and “Climate change worries”. Most people in Britain want to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, but due to more to fears of shortages and rising prices than to fears about climate change, according to the report. Fears about peak oil live on, while energy analysts, are no longer concerned that oil and gas supplies will peak and start to run out, owing to the shale revolution.However, these fears continue to resonate strongly with ordinary members of the public.
Tension over East China Sea has escalated this year, with China and Japan scrambling fighter jets and ordering patrol ships to shadow each other, raising fear that a miscalculation could lead to a broader clash. Japan has ordered geological survey ships to prepare for possible deployment to the East China Sea after it detected Chinese drilling near the disputed maritime border.
|
Product |
380 cSt HSFO |
380 cSt LSFO |
|
|
|
|
|
Rotterdam 2013-07-18 |
605 |
613 |
|
Rotterdam 2012-07-18 |
598 |
651 |
|
|
|
|
|
Gibraltar 2013-07-18 |
628 |
658 |
|
Gibraltar 2012-06-18 |
620 |
686 |
|
|
|
|
|
St Petersburg 2013-07-18 |
568 |
588 |
|
St Petersburg 2012-07-18 |
384 |
424 |
|
|
|
|
|
Panama Canal 2013-07-18 |
612 |
679 |
|
Panama Canal 2012-07-18 |
610 |
- |
|
|
|
|
|
Busan 2013-07-18 |
618 |
729 |
|
Busan 2012-07-18 |
627 |
- |
|
|
|
|
|
Fujairah 2013-07-18 |
595 |
730 |
|
Fujairah 2012-07-18 |
620 |
- |
All prices stated in USD / Mton
All time high Brent = $147.50 (July 11, 2008)
All time high Light crude (WTI) = $147.27 (July 11, 2008)
|
Product |
Close Jul. 18 |
|
Light Crude Oil (WTI) |
$108,04 |
|
Brent Crude Oil |
$108,70 |