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Market in Brief

Brent is trapped in a tight sideway trading band while WTI rose on Inventory crude draw in Cushing delivery point. The May Brent futures settled at $107.03/bbl, up +$0.04 and WTI gained +$1.07 to $100.26/bbl resulting in the spread narrowing to $6.77/bbl. Some price moves started mainly after the US DOE Inventory Report as Cushing stock draw -1.3 mbbl and Gasoline a massive -5.1 mbbl while Crude showed above 6.0 mbbl build. The WTI futures rose by more than $1.0/bbl and closed above the $100 mark. There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Russia-Ukraine crisis while recent soft Chinese economic figures weigh on general sentiment. More sanctions towards Russia and Federal Reserve rejection of five banks capital plans left investors cautious. Today, we will see the US weekly jobless claims and US 4th Quarter GDP revision to provide further economic guidance. This morning, crude prices are trading slightly down.

Fueloil Specifics

The NWE bunker fuel oil prices remained largely unchanged yesterday. Suppliers reported relatively low demand with easing delivered lsfo premiums in Rotterdam as product avails seemed to improve slightly. The Singapore fuel oil prices were mostly tracking crude movements ranging between -$0.25 to +$1.75 during the Asian Platts window yesterday. The price action mostly came from the volatile trading in the physical cargo segment. The delivered bunker premiums were seen between +$2.0 and $5.0 above cargo prices. This morning both markets are trading slightly higher.

Forward Indications

Product	Apr	May	Jun	Q314	Q414	Q115
NYMEX WTI Swap (1st month)	99,91	99,07	97,14	99,03	96,32	93,76
ICE Brent Swap (1st month)	106,92	106,75	106,38	105,90	104,16	102,92
ICE Gasoil Swap (1st month)	896,92	896,83	895,75	895,17	890,89	-
3.5% Barges FOB Rtdm	575,25	574,50	573,75	572,25	568,25	566,75
3.5% Cargoes FOB Med	571,75	571,75	571,00	569,50	565,50	564,50
1.0% Cargoes FOB NWE	616,50	609,50	606,50	603,50	594,50	584,50
3% no. 6 USGC WB	89,65	89,70	89,90	89,37	88,73	88,38
380 CST Cargoes FOB S'pore	595,25	594,50	594,50	593,50	591,50	590,00
0.1 % GO Barges FOB Rtdm	898,25	898,25	897,25	895,25	891,25	-
Physical Rotterdam 380 CST	580,50	579,75	579,00	577,50	573,50	572,00
Physical Singapore 380 CST	600,50	599,75	599,75	598,75	596,75	595,25

Focus of the day: Houston

U.S. Gulf Coast fuels tumbled Wednesday as the Houston channel reopened all lanes of traffic for the fist time since March 22nd, oil spill. Beside the inconvenience, some suppliers were able to offer from March 31st onwards; while others admitted earliest delivery date being April 6th. Voyages were restricted to daylight hours and priority was given to cargoes of crude oil, perishables, refrigerated goods and cars. At the end of the day, Coast Guard started permitting traffic and tug/barge movements in both directions through the safety zones without daylight restrictions. The situation widened the HILO premiums to $120/MT in Houston, where regular 380 was assessed at $590 (spot price). New Orleans bunker market kept its flat assessments with continued premiums at $105/MT and HSFO being offered at $620/MT as little change was seen on the Mississippi river during the last couple of days.

Economic fundamentals this week

Statistic	Importance	Date	Time	Period	Consensus	Last	Actual
Case- Shiller 20-city Index	Medium	25-Mar	9:00 AM	Jan	13.50%	13.40%	13.20%
Consumer Confidence	Medium	25-Mar	10:00 AM	Mar	77.8	78.1	82.3
New Home Sales	Medium	25-Mar	10:00 AM	Feb	430K	468K	440K
Durable Orders	High	26-Mar	8:30 AM	Feb	1.00%	-1.00%	2.20%
Initial Claims	Medium	27-Mar	8:30 AM	22-mar	330K	320K	-
GDP- 3rd estimate	High	27-Mar	8:30 AM	Q4	2.60%	2.40%	-
Pending Home Sales	Medium	27-Mar	10:00 AM	Feb	-0.20%	0.10%	-
Personal Income	Medium	28-Mar	8:30 AM	Feb	0.00%	0.30%	-
PCE Prices- Core	Medium	28-Mar	8:30 AM	Feb	0.10%	0.10%	-
Michigan Sentiment- Final	Medium	28-Mar	9:55 AM	Mar	79.5	79.9	-