Availability is generally good across major US bunkering ports, while there are pockets of more limited supply in certain smaller US Gulf Coast locations and in Panama.
HSFO380 and LSMGO are tight at the anchorage off the US Gulf Coast. A barge has yet to return to operations at the Galveston Fairway anchorage by Houston. The barge was still being inspected last week.
US fuel oil inventories have slipped amid higher demand. The stocks dropped 1% in the week to 14 May, when they measured 31.32 million bbls, data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed this week. Higher domestic refinery production and imports were countered by a 54% supply increase as demand reached a six-week high of 324,000 b/d.
Regional fuel oil inventories on the US East Coast, West Coast and Gulf Coast have been broadly steady over the past few weeks.
Stormy weather has complicated bunkering in the US Gulf Coast in recent days. Some bunker deliveries have been delayed by the Galveston Offshore Lightering Area (GOLA), until a lull yesterday allowed for deliveries to go ahead again.
GOLA’s VLSFO price premium over Houston has nearly doubled, from $23/mt on Wednesday to $40/mt on Friday.
The weather has since worsened and is expected to remain rough until Sunday. The US National Hurricane Center forecasts there is a 40% chance of a cyclone in the western part of the US Gulf over the next two days.
Lightning prevented some bunker barges from loading product in Houston on Wednesday, but deliveries were not delayed.
Bunker supply is tight for both VLSFO and LSMGO in Balboa. The Panamanian port’s VLSFO premium over Houston has doubled from Wednesday to more than $40/mt on Friday.
Argentinian bunker ports face delays after tugboat and mooring service workers went on a two-day strike from Tuesday.
Another workers strike, this time by the Grain Surveyors Union, started at midnight local time on Thursday (03.00 GMT Friday). The strike has delayed tugboat services, berthing and bunkering. The extent of the backlogs is not yet clear, but prompt deliveries at Zona Comun have been pushed back.
Source: ENGINE (https://engine.online/)