US bunker ports are well supplied even as fuel oil inventories are down to 18-month lows, while supply is tight in Peru and Ecuador.

Bunker fuel availability continues to be good across key bunkering US ports, despite a recent surge in demand and shrinking fuel oil stockpiles.

US residual fuel oil inventories have fallen to their lowest level since January 2020, the latest data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed this week.

The country’s inventories have been drawn heavily for two consecutive weeks amid surging demand and declining domestic production.

Fuel oil supply nearly doubled on the week to its highest level since September last year. Supply roughly equates to consumption as it covers fuel oil supplied by refineries, blenders and bulk terminals.

Production fell to three-week lows, with less output from Gulf Coast refineries pulling down the total. Gulf Coast refineries ramped up production earlier in July, however, and have been producing more than twice as much fuel oil on a weekly average in July than in June.

Bunker fuel oils are generally in good availability across US coastal hubs like Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York, Houston and New Orleans, and there are no significant shortages reported. Bunker locations in the Caribbean and South America also have readily available supplies for the most part.

Availability is also tight in Peru’s Callao, and in Ecuadorian ports. An Ecuadorian supplier’s earliest delivery date for bunker fuel oils is expected between 23-25 July, depending on when it can load product.

Ecuadorian La Libertad’s HSFO380 price has flipped to a premium over Balboa and to a wider premium over Houston. Unlike its low sulphur prices, Ecuadorian HSFO380 prices can often be competitive with bigger bunkering hubs such as Houston and Balboa, as Ecuador’s crude oil naturally yields higher-sulphur fuels. This favours its high sulphur fuel oil market over lower-sulphur VLSFO and LSMGO grades.

La Libertad’s VLSFO price is, by contrast, at premiums of more than $100/mt over Balboa and Houston, and its LSMGO is priced $180/mt higher than Balboa’s and $230/mt higher than Houston’s.

Ecuador’s fuel oil exports rose to a nine-month high of 1.71 million bbls in May, according to data from the Central Bank of Ecuador. Its state-owned oil company Petroecuador announced this week it will export 1.33 million bbls of residual fuel oil to one trading firm in seven roughly equal shipments from August.
Source: ENGINE (https://engine.online/)