Wed 27 Dec 2017, 10:00 GMT

Oil and fuel oil hedging market update


By the Oil Desk at Freight Investor Services.



Commentary

Brent closed last night at $67.02, WTI closed at $59.97. Wow. Did Wall St get the Christmas song mixed up? All I want for Christmas is crude? What a Christmas gift for the bulls with news of a pipeline explosion in Libya. Quite whether this was some technical traders taking advantage of London stuffing their faces with bubble and squeak and leftover Turkey is anyone's guess. I wonder though - what with the Forties pipeline restarting soon, London waddling back in and the Es Sider pipe that was sabotaged coming back online as soon as mid Jan, will the market readjust as quick as it is to spike? Probably not is the answer, I think. I still feel it is hope more than facts that are making people think the market balance is tighter than it actually is. But on its merry way it goes and as soon as news of a crude supply disruption breaks, the market jumps on it quicker than people who overindulge at Christmas sign up for a January gym membership. Quite how US oil production is being happily ignored when it is more than capable of plugging any supply deficits is beyond me, but 'ignorance is bliss' seems to be the phrase of 2017 if you're a crude producer outside of the US. Expect some volatility in the coming days on fairly thin trading.

Fuel Oil Market (December 22)

The front crack opened at -8.65, weakening to -8.75 across the day. The Cal 18 was valued at -8.10.

Singapore 380 cSt

Jan18 - 374.50 / 376.50

Feb18 - 373.75 / 375.75

Mar18 - 373.50 / 375.50

Apr18 - 373.00 / 375.00

May18 - 372.50 / 374.50

Jun18 - 372.50 / 374.50

Q1-18 - 374.00 / 376.00

Q2-18 - 372.50 / 374.50

Q3-18 - 368.50 / 371.00

Q4-18 - 363.75 / 366.25

CAL18 - 369.50 / 372.50

CAL19 - 333.25 / 338.25

Singapore 180 cSt

Jan18 - 378.50 / 380.50

Feb18 - 378.25 / 380.25

Mar18 -378.50 / 380.50

Apr18 - 378.25 / 380.25

May18 - 377.75 / 379.75

Jun18 - 377.00 / 379.00

Q1-18 - 378.50 / 380.50

Q2-18 - 377.75 / 379.75

Q3-18 - 374.25 / 376.75

Q4-18 - 3369.75 / 372.25

CAL18 - 375.00 / 378.00

CAL19 - 342.00 / 347.00

Rotterdam Barges

Jan18 360.50 / 362.50

Feb18 359.75 / 361.75

Mar18 359.50 / 361.50

Apr18 359.00 / 361.00

May18 358.00 / 360.00

Jun18 358.00 / 360.00

Q1-18 360.00 / 362.00

Q2-18 358.00 / 360.00

Q3-18 352.75 / 355.25

Q4-18 343.75 / 346.25

CAL18 354.00 / 357.00

CAL19 312.25 / 317.25


Shore power illustration. Portsmouth port publishes white paper on UK’s first multi-berth shore power system  

UK port shares lessons from five-year project in bid to spur nationwide uptake of the technology.

IMO Technical Seminar on the use of ammonia as marine fuel. IMO seminar examines technical hurdles facing ammonia as a marine fuel  

Technical seminar under the Future Fuels and Technology Project attracts over 800 participants.

Wind-assisted vessel illustration. ICS to host webinar on wind-assisted propulsion for shipping  

Event to bring together panel of industry experts to discuss wind propulsion as a decarbonisation option.

Mike Sellers, Christophe Mathieu and Steve Pitt. Portsmouth switches on UK’s first multi-berth shore power system  

ABB technology enables Portsmouth to offer high-voltage shore power across three berths simultaneously.

H2SITE logo. H2SITE lands €3.4m in Norwegian funding to scale up onboard ammonia-to-power system  

Enova backing will support the development of a 700 kW ammonia-cracking system for commercial maritime auxiliary-power applications.

VPS Carbon Reduction seminar in Hamburg graphic. VPS to host Hamburg seminar on fuel quality and decarbonisation  

European Round Table Meeting will address marine fuel strategy, lubricants and the multi-fuel transition.

Sadie Ann vessel. Battery-hybrid vessel enters service as a floating classroom for research students  

Hybrid research vessel Sadie Ann delivered for Lake Superior education programme.

Olivier Josse, Peter Grunwaldt and Gaetan Perret, Seascale Energy. Gaetan Perret to succeed Olivier Josse as Seascale Energy co-CEO  

Josse will step down after 36 years, with Gaetan Perret set to become co-CEO in December.

Anne Mai Hatlem and Prof Lynn Loo. GCMD and Equinor sign five-year partnership on alternative fuels and carbon storage  

Singapore-based centre and Norwegian energy company to combine expertise in maritime pilots and low-carbon fuel supply.

Petrobras logo. Petrobras suspends bunker deliveries at Rio Grande after tropical storm  

Storm damage and power outage leave resumption timeline unclear.