MABUX: Bunker prices to remain volatile next week
The Bunker Review is contributed by Marine Bunker Exchange
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) held plans gains from the biggest advance in two weeks after government data showed crude stockpiles fell at the largest U.S. storage hub. WTI were little changed in New York after rising 1.9 percent yesterday. Crude supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI contracts, shrank by 551 000 barrels last week, first decline in four weeks, against expectations of an increase of 2.2 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration reported.
The Brent crude oil was steady as Libya shut its Sharara oil field that had been disrupted by strikes and violence in the past. The U.S. inventories and news from Libya are supportive for the Brent crude oil and highlights the current chaos in Libya, and also how fragile the production is.
Oil is trading in a bear market amid signs that global supply is outpacing demand. Leading OPEC producers have resisted calls to cut output as they compete with the U.S., which is pumping at the fastest pace in more than 30 years. The price collapse is a concern for everyone, Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Rafael Ramirez said as he met Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi on Wednesday.
Iran and the world powers are trying to strike a deal over its nuclear program. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday that a deal between Iran and P5+1 group of countries would be harder to achieve after a November 24 deadline, suggesting a degree of urgency ahead of planned talks in Oman next week.
The market’s December contracts showed at CET 16.10 Brent 82.21 usd/barrel and WTI 77.42 usd/barrel with tendency downward for both.
For the coming week we expect bunker prices to continue to swing around 5 -10 USD/PMT. Don’t think bunker prices would continue much further down because of the high cost of producing oil from so called shale oil and oil sand.
All prices stated in USD / MT
All time high Brent = $147.50 (July 11, 2008)
All time high Light crude (WTI) = $147.27 (July 11, 2008)
