A bunker fuel and oil report, detailing the day per day trading patterns and prices in the market.The report is prepared from OW Risk Management and covers all major bunker fuel oil markets around the world, including all major ports, ranging from Singapore to Rotterdam.

Market in Brief

Brent is trapped in a tight sideway trading band while WTI rose on Inventory crude draw in Cushing delivery point. The May Brent futures settled at $107.03/bbl, up +$0.04 and WTI gained +$1.07 to $100.26/bbl resulting in the spread narrowing to $6.77/bbl. Some price moves started mainly after the US DOE Inventory Report as Cushing stock draw -1.3 mbbl and Gasoline a massive -5.1 mbbl while Crude showed above 6.0 mbbl build. The WTI futures rose by more than $1.0/bbl and closed above the $100 mark. There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Russia-Ukraine crisis while recent soft Chinese economic figures weigh on general sentiment. More sanctions towards Russia and Federal Reserve rejection of five banks capital plans left investors cautious. Today, we will see the US weekly jobless claims and US 4th Quarter GDP revision to provide further economic guidance. This morning, crude prices are trading slightly down.

Fueloil Specifics

The NWE bunker fuel oil prices remained largely unchanged yesterday. Suppliers reported relatively low demand with easing delivered lsfo premiums in Rotterdam as product avails seemed to improve slightly. The Singapore fuel oil prices were mostly tracking crude movements ranging between -$0.25 to +$1.75 during the Asian Platts window yesterday. The price action mostly came from the volatile trading in the physical cargo segment. The delivered bunker premiums were seen between +$2.0 and $5.0 above cargo prices. This morning both markets are trading slightly higher.

Settlement & Indications (mid values)

Product Yesterday's Values   Forward Indications Product Change Last Dir. Apr May Jun Q314 Q414 Q115 NYMEX WTI Swap (1st month) 1,07 100,26 ↓ 99,91 99,07 97,14 99,03 96,32 93,76 ICE Brent Swap (1st month) 0,04 107,03 ↓ 106,92 106,75 106,38 105,90 104,16 102,92 ICE Gasoil Swap (1st month) (7,75) 893,25 ↑ 896,92 896,83 895,75 895,17 890,89 - 3.5% Barges FOB Rtdm 0,25 574,00 ↑ 575,25 574,50 573,75 572,25 568,25 566,75 3.5% Cargoes FOB Med (4,00) 564,50 ↑ 571,75 571,75 571,00 569,50 565,50 564,50 1.0% Cargoes FOB NWE (11,00) 622,25 ↑ 616,50 609,50 606,50 603,50 594,50 584,50 3% no. 6 USGC WB 0,67 88,15 ↑ 89,65 89,70 89,90 89,37 88,73 88,38 380 CST Cargoes FOB S'pore (0,25) 593,25 ↑ 595,25 594,50 594,50 593,50 591,50 590,00 0.1 % GO Barges FOB Rtdm (8,75) 891,75 ↑ 898,25 898,25 897,25 895,25 891,25 - Physical Rotterdam 380 CST 1,00 575,25 ↑ 580,50 579,75 579,00 577,50 573,50 572,00 Physical Singapore 380 CST (0,50) 598,00 ↑ 600,50 599,75 599,75 598,75 596,75 595,25

Focus of the day: Houston

U.S. Gulf Coast fuels tumbled Wednesday as the Houston channel reopened all lanes of traffic for the fist time since March 22nd, oil spill. Beside the inconvenience, some suppliers were able to offer from March 31st onwards; while others admitted earliest delivery date being April 6th. Voyages were restricted to daylight hours and priority was given to cargoes of crude oil, perishables, refrigerated goods and cars. At the end of the day, Coast Guard started permitting traffic and tug/barge movements in both directions through the safety zones without daylight restrictions. The situation widened the HILO premiums to $120/MT in Houston, where regular 380 was assessed at $590 (spot price). New Orleans bunker market kept its flat assessments with continued premiums at $105/MT and HSFO being offered at $620/MT as little change was seen on the Mississippi river during the last couple of days.

Economy fundamentals this week

Fundamental Indicators Statistic Importance Date Time Period Consensus Last Actual Case- Shiller 20-city Index Medium 25-Mar 9:00 AM Jan 13.5% 13.4% 13.2% Consumer Confidence Medium 25-Mar 10:00 AM Mar 77.8 78.1 82.3 New Home Sales Medium 25-Mar 10:00 AM Feb 430K 468K 440K Durable Orders High 26-Mar 8:30 AM Feb 1.0% -1.0% 2.2% Initial Claims Medium 27-Mar 8:30 AM 22-mar 330K 320K - GDP- 3rd estimate High 27-Mar 8:30 AM Q4 2.6% 2.4% - Pending Home Sales Medium 27-Mar 10:00 AM Feb -0.2% 0.1% - Personal Income Medium 28-Mar 8:30 AM Feb 0.0% 0.3% - PCE Prices- Core Medium 28-Mar 8:30 AM Feb 0.1% 0.1% - Michigan Sentiment- Final Medium 28-Mar 9:55 AM Mar 79.5 79.9 -

Source: OW Risk Management