Wed 11 Apr 2018, 09:02 GMT

Oil and fuel oil hedging market update


By the Oil Desk at Freight Investor Services.



Commentary

Brent closed last night at $71.04 up $2.39, WTI closed at $65.51, up $2.09, and INE closed at Y413.50 per bbl or $65.52. Quite a rally we have witnessed over the last 3 days, up 5%. I think we can only attribute this rally to the most tactful man since Jeremy Clarkson asked for some hot food - POTUS Donald Trump. The "Trump effect" really is quite something to behold. The market reacts in the same crazy way as how crazy his tweets are. Covfefe. My favourite Trump tweet, however, was "It's snowing and freezing in New York - We need global warming now!" Anyway, at least it is clear that the market genuinely believes that his threats regarding Russia, Venezuela, China and Iran are bullish for flat price and here Brent is at highs not seen since 2014. In other news, I read that the brainiacs who forecast global oil demand are wrong by approx 1 million bpd. "1 million bpd is still roughly 1 percent of the global market, making it hard to produce accurate forecasts," an OPEC analyst is quoted as saying, who added: "Two or three years ago, the discrepancy was about 2 million barrels per day and now it is about 1 million." So that's encouraging. Apparently, we will see a build in crude and gasoline stocks later, but API forecasts seem to be about as accurate as the same people who forecast demand, so let's wait and see.

Fuel Oil Market (April 10)

Crack opened wide at -11.50 and traded lower throughout the day to close at -12.40 on the back of higher crude.

Viscosity spread retreats from near two-year high - prompt-month viscosity spread slipped to about $13 a tonne on Tuesday after more than five sessions of sharp gains, fuel oil broker sources said. The balance-of-April viscosity spread on Monday settled at a near two-year high of $14 a tonne, up from $12.50 a tonne in the previous session and $9.50 a tonne at the start of the month. "The wide (viscosity) spread points at tight cutterstock availability as well as ample supplies of higher-viscosity material," said JBC Energy in a note to clients on Tuesday. The return of Pakistan as a fuel oil buyer has also tightened the low viscosity pool, said the Vienna-based research

Economic Data and Events

* 12pm: MBA Mortgage Applications, April 6

* 1:30pm: U.S. CPI, March

* 1:30pm: U.S. Real Avg Weekly Earnings, March

* 3:30pm: EIA weekly oil inventory report

* 7pm: Fed Meeting Minutes

* Today, no exact timing:

** Genscape weekly ARA crude stockpiles report

** Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi speaks at Atlantic Council, Washington

** 19th China Oil Trading Conference 2018 in Shanghai, speakers are from Sinopec, National Development and Reform Commission, among others, 1st day of 2

** IEF in New Delhi, 2nd day of 3

** CPC loading program for May

** See OIL WEEKLY AGENDA for this week's events

Singapore 380 cSt

May18 - 3376.50 / 378.50

Jun18 - 375.75 / 377.75

Jul18 - 374.50 / 376.50

Aug18 - 372.50 / 374.50

Sep18 - 370.25 / 372.25

Oct18 - 368.25 / 370.25

Q3-18 - 372.50 / 374.50

Q4-18 - 366.25 / 368.25

Q1-19 - 358.00 / 360.50

Q2-19 - 351.00 / 354.00

CAL19 - 327.00 / 332.00

CAL20 - 269.00 / 277.00

Singapore 180 cSt

May18 - 388.25 / 390.25

Jun18 - 387.50 / 389.50

Jul18 - 386.50 / 388.50

Aug18 - 384.50 / 386.50

Sep18 - 382.50 / 384.50

Oct18 - 380.50 / 382.50

Q3-18 - 384.50 / 386.50

Q4-18 - 378.25 / 380.25

Q1-19 - 370.25 / 372.75

Q2-19 - 364.00 / 367.00

CAL19 - 342.50 / 347.50

CAL20 - 293.00 / 301.00

Rotterdam Barges

May18 364.75 / 366.75

Jun18 364.00 / 366.00

Jul18 362.25 / 364.25

Aug18 360.00 / 362.00

Sep18 357.25 / 359.25

Oct18 - 354.00 / 356.00

Q3-18 359.75 / 361.75

Q4-18 350.00 / 352.00

Q1-19 341.50 / 344.00

Q2-18 332.25 / 335.25

CAL19 310.00 / 315.00

CAL20 260.50 / 268.50

BP  

Bankruptcy filing documents. Liquid Wind parent company declared bankrupt, business put up for sale  

Swedish e-fuel facility developer enters bankruptcy proceedings, with subsidiaries across three Nordic countries now available for acquisition.

Corvus Energy and BYD Energy Storage strategic agreement signing. Corvus Energy and BYD Energy Storage sign strategic agreement for marine battery development  

Norway-based Corvus and Chinese firm BYD formalise partnership for next-generation lithium iron phosphate systems.

Tide Talks hydrogen webinar graphic. EMSA to host webinar on hydrogen as marine fuel  

Second episode of Tide Talks series scheduled for 29 June draws on agency studies.

Keel-laying ceremony of vessel with builder's hull no. CHB2047. Keel laid for MSC 19,000-teu LNG dual-fuel container ship  

Vessel CHB2047 is being built at Changhong International’s Daishan facility in Zhoushan.

Keys Azalea vessel. NYK achieves over 90% methane oxidation in LNG engine catalyst trial  

Japanese shipping company reports results from onboard test of system designed to reduce methane slip.

We are hiring graphic. Uni-Fuels seeks general manager for Houston bunker trading desk  

Nasdaq-listed marine fuel seller advertises for commercial leader to oversee P&L and customer relationships.

M2I2 grant award event. Emvolon wins Massachusetts grant for biomethane-to-biomethanol conversion system  

Technology converts biomethane into biomethanol at source, with applications including sustainable aviation fuel production.

Nikolaj Holm Kristensen and Tobias Laugesen, Malik Energy. Malik Energy expands team with two new hires in Denmark  

Marine fuel supplier adds chemicals specialist and supplier to Fredericia and Aalborg offices.

Soil boring tests. Straits Bio-LNG reports favourable soil test results for jetty construction  

Preliminary soil boring tests show shallower depth than expected at Singapore-based company’s jetty site.

Evangelia Tsimpidi, Flex Commodities. Flex Commodities hires Trafigura operator for Greek bunker deliveries  

Evangelia Tsimpidi joins from Trafigura Maritime Ventures with experience in ARA and US markets.