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By the Oil Desk at Freight Investor Services Ltd.

Brent closed down 0.14 last night to $51.62 and WTI closed at $48.22 down 0.56. Well that didn't take long did it? The Saudis are already saying that they would look at extending the cut when they all come to meet in Vienna in May. I mean what else does everyone expect them to say? "Nah I don't think we'll bother, I think we'll just go back to pumping 11mn bpd and hope the market absorbs it". Of course they aren't. That would be intentionally stubbing your big toe and poking yourself in the eye all at the same time. It would be completely self-defeating if they weren't to do that, given that the cartel, and others, need flat price higher to balance the books. Come the end of April, I think this market will be pretty volatile based on where the funds see the cuts coming in, but until then I see no reason for crude to be above $55 on Brent. I don't think this is the big issue, however. We can all look at the figures of where the cuts are coming in, what compliance percentage, hopeful demand forecasts yada yada yada. It doesn't matter. We live in an age where your two-year-old daughter knows how to unlock your iPhone, where your seven-year-old son can download a movie on Netflix and your 13-year-old can explain what a trading algorithm is over Facetime. Unfortunately, OPEC are still in a Betamax time listening to Matt Monroe over a gramophone whilst complaining that their gold chairs could do with another polish. Technology has made its way to new oil fields and Jarrod or Jordan or Diesel or whatever fancy names teenagers give themselves these days are able to develop systems that mean extracting the stuff out of the ground is cheaper as technology allows more efficient ways and means to get that black gold out of the ground quicker than you can say "Work done. Shall we binge on a box set, Dad?" I kind of think we're at a video to DVD crossroads moment. The problem is we're stuck in the Laserdisc world and how many of those do you see in your mum's front room? Exactly.

Economic Data/Events: (London times)

* 12:30pm: U.S. current account balance, 4Q, est. -$129b (prior -$113b)

* 4pm: U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Esther George will speak about the nation's economic outlook at a Women in Housing and Finance luncheon, Washington

* 8:30pm: API weekly oil inventory report

* Today:

* Bloomberg-compiled refinery snapshot, looking at key outages at refineries in the U.S. and Canada, and providing offline capacity projections for crude units and FCCs

* Energy Transition Dialogue conference, Berlin, final day

Singapore 380 cSt

Apr-17 - 287.50 / 289.50

May17 - 288.75 / 290.75

Jun17 - 289.00 / 291.00

Jul17 - 289.25 / 291.25

Aug17 - 289.00 / 291.00

Sep17 - 288.50 / 290.50

Q2-17 - 288.50 / 290.50

Q3-17 - 288.75 / 290.75

Q4-17 - 287.50 / 290.00

Q1-18 - 286.50 / 289.00

CAL18 - 284.00 / 287.50

CAL19 - 275.00 / 280.00

Singapore 180 cSt

Apr17 - 294.00 / 296.00

May17 - 295.25 / 297.25

Jun17 - 295.50 / 297.50

Jul17 - 296.00 / 298.00

Aug17 - 295.75 / 297.75

Sep17 - 295.50 / 297.50

Q2-17 - 295.00 / 297.00

Q3-17 - 295.50 / 297.50

Q4-17 - 294.50 / 297.00

Q1-18 - 293.50 / 296.00

CAL18 - 291.50 / 295.00

CAL19 - 283.75 / 288.75

Rotterdam Barges

Apr17 272.25 / 274.25

May17 273.25 / 275.25

Jun17 273.50 / 275.50

Jul17 273.25 / 275.25

Aug17 272.75 / 274.75

Sep17 272.00 / 274.00

Q2-17 273.00 / 275.00

Q3-17 272.75 / 274.75

Q4-17 270.00 / 272.50

Q1-18 270.25 / 272.75

CAL18 268.25 / 271.75

CAL19 252.50 / 257.50

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Founded in 2002, Freight Investor Services is a specialist in dry bulk and commodity derivatives, including cargo freight, iron ore, fertilizer and bunker fuel. The company has offices in London, Dubai, Singapore and Shanghai.

For further details about fuel oil swaps or to discuss trading opportunities, please contact Andrew Cullen, Client Relations & Development Manager, on +44 207 090 1126, or email AndrewC@freightinvestor.com.