Thu 5 Apr 2018, 08:33 GMT

Oil and fuel oil hedging market update


By the Oil Desk at Freight Investor Services.



Commentary

Brent closed last night at $68.02 down $0.10, WTI closed at $63.37, down $0.14 and INE closed at Y402.30 per bbl or $63.85. Sometimes numbers are easy to put into perspective. For example: 180, the number of minutes Arsenal's solid defence haven't let a Premier League goal in. 31, the number of minutes it took Liverpool to spank Man City last night. 5, the number of minutes it took me to demolish an Easter egg last weekend. See, easy. But when someone puts a billion at the end of any number it all goes a little bit skewed. Bahrain announced Monday they had found 80 billon bbls of shale oil and 14 trillion cubic feet of gas. I'm sure many people can't quite fathom those kinds of numbers, but one thing I can say is that it's a lot. A lot, a lot. ExxonMobil has increased the size of its Permian resource from less than 3 billion barrels of oil equivalents (Bboe) to 9.5 Bboe. Iraq have said they are going to increase their oil production to 6.5mnbpd from current production of 4.6mnbpd. With these kinds of predictions, the market seems unsure of what to do. With all this production coming into the market, some will be taken out by need to increase due to depletion of current wells. I know demand generally is apparently inching higher, but I wouldn't put the term "inching" against the supply outlook. A definite long-term concern for suppliers. Driving season in the US isn't that far away and I think it is going to prove crucial for the market as a real tangible indicator if demand is actually there.

Fuel Oil Market (April 4)

The front crack opened at -11.85, strengthening to -11.20, before weakening to -11.55. The Cal 19 was valued at -14.50.

Asia's prompt-month viscosity spread extended gains for a sixth consecutive session to a near three-year high on Wednesday after almost three weeks of steady gains. Concerns of tight blendstock supplies over the coming month have helped boost the low-viscosity fuel oil market in recent weeks.

Fujairah fuel oil inventories slipped 1.4 percent to a fourweek low of 7.049 million barrels (about 1.052 million tonnes) in the week to April 2.

Total fuel oil flows into East Asia for April is expected to close under last month's 13-month high of 6.9-7.0 million tonnes, on lower arrivals from all three supply regions - the West, the Middle East and Asia - assessments by Thomson Reuters Oil Research showed on Tuesday.

Economic Data and Events

* 1:30pm: U.S. weekly initial jobless claims for March est. 225k (prior 215k)

* Census Bureau releases U.S. crude exports for February

* Singapore onshore oil-product stockpile data

* Russian refining maintenance schedule from ministry

Singapore 380 cSt

May18 - 369.25 / 371.25

Jun18 - 368.75 / 370.75

Jul18 - 367.50 / 369.50

Aug18 - 366.00 / 368.00

Sep18 - 364.25 / 366.25

Oct18 - 362.25 / 364.25

Q3-18 - 366.00 / 368.00

Q4-18 - 360.25 / 362.25

Q1-19 - 353.25 / 355.75

Q2-19 - 346.50 / 349.50

CAL19 - 325.75 / 330.75

CAL20 - 266.00 / 274.00

Singapore 180 cSt

May18 - 378.75 / 380.75

Jun18 - 378.00 / 380.00

Jul18 - 376.50 / 378.50

Aug18 - 375.00 / 377.00

Sep18 - 373.25 / 375.25

Oct18 - 371.25 / 373.25

Q3-18 - 375.00 / 377.00

Q4-18 - 369.50 / 371.50

Q1-19 - 362.75 / 365.25

Q2-19 -357.25 / 360.25

CAL19 - 339.75 / 344.75

CAL20 - 290.25 / 298.25

Rotterdam Barges

May18 357.00 / 359.00

Jun18 356.50 / 358.50

Jul18 355.00 / 357.00

Aug18 353.00 / 355.00

Sep18 350.25 / 352.25

Oct18 - 347.25 / 349.25

Q3-18 352.75 / 354.75

Q4-18 343.75 / 345.75

Q1-19 336.75 / 339.25

Q2-18 328.25 / 331.25

CAL19 307.00 / 312.00

CAL20 257.50 / 265.50


Heinrich Wegener & Sohn Bunkergesellschaft m.b.H. logo. Heinrich Wegener & Sohn joins Global Ethanol Association  

German family-owned bunker firm joins industry body to support ethanol and methanol adoption.

Keel-laying ceremony of vessel with builder's hull no. CHB2048. Second MSC ultra-large LNG dual-fuel boxship enters dry dock at Zhoushan  

Changhong International's Daishan Base receives 19,000-teu container vessel built for MSC.

175,000-cbm LNG carrier vessel render. Deal signed to build four LNG-fuelled gas carriers  

Quartet of 175,000-cbm LNG vessels destined for Shell charter.

Launching ceremony of MSC Leticia X vessel. Changhong International launches LNG container ships and tankers for MSC and Navios  

Chinese shipbuilder launches four vessels in the space of days, spanning LNG container ships and oil tankers.

Norsepower and CHIC signing. Norsepower and Cosco unit sign R&D agreement to advance rotor sail development  

Finnish wind propulsion firm and Chinese manufacturer deepen ties with dedicated research and development pact.

Andrés Galnares and Gorka Hermoso, H2SITE. H2SITE closes Series B round above €42m to scale hydrogen membrane technology  

Fresh capital secured as firm targets large-scale industrial deployment and expansion into Asian markets.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) logo. MHI study points to cost reduction potential in India-to-Singapore green ammonia value chain  

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries analysis finds value chain optimisation could cut green ammonia costs.

YM Wayfinder naming ceremony. Yang Ming names third LNG dual-fuel boxship for Asia–North Europe service  

YM Wayfinder joins two sister vessels already operating on LNG on the FE3 route.

Milind Homkar, Flex Commodities. Flex Commodities appoints Milind Homkar as trade controller  

Dubai-based trader brings in finance and audit specialist to lead trade control function.

Launching ceremony of Kypros Island vessel. Safe Bulkers launches first methanol dual-fuel bulk carrier at Chinese shipyard  

Greek dry bulk operator launches first methanol-powered vessel as part of its fleet renewal programme.