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

Crude prices closed the week higher last Friday. The April Brent expired at $108.57/bbl, up +$1.18 while May contract settled at $108.21/bbl, up +$1.29. The April WTI only inched up +$0.21 to close $98.89/bbl. The market was generally trading on a series of bullish drivers last Friday. The geopolitical tensions between Russia and the West over the Ukrainian issue were heightened as Crimea voted to separate from Ukraine. Crude will remain supported this week by any possible risk of supply disruptions if the US and Western countries impose sanctions on Russia - the world’s 2nd largest oil producer. This week, investors will keep a close eye on the US Federal Reserve’s meeting starting on Tuesday, for further decisions on its bond-buying pace. Today we will have the US Empire Manufacturing report for March and February Industrial production data. This morning, crude is trading slightly down.

Fueloil Specifics

The Northwest European bunker fuel oil markets started slowly Friday morning but rose higher in the afternoon following increasing Brent values. At the end of the day the delivered 380cst product in Antwerp was assessed app.$5/mt up and a dollar more in Rotterdam. Suppliers in the area reported mixed demand with Rotterdam seeing mainly small enquiries while Antwerp had relatively busy day. LSFO delivery premiums came off as avails improved. The Singapore fuel oil prices closed mixed ranging -$1.50 to +$0.25 during the Asian Platts window last Friday. The latest Singapore heavy residual inventory reported a build of +2.25 mbbl to 19.48 mbbl. The delivered bunker premiums remained around +$4.5 to $6.0 above cargo prices. This morning both markets are trading down.

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) 0,21 98,89 ↓ 98,08 97,39 96,68 97,38 95,19 93,30 ICE Brent Swap (1st month) 1,29 108,21 ↓ 107,54 107,21 106,81 106,31 105,81 103,22 ICE Gasoil Swap (1st month) 11,00 901,75 ↓ 897,67 897,42 897,25 896,42 891,28 - 3.5% Barges FOB Rtdm 6,25 578,50 ↓ 578,25 577,75 577,00 575,50 571,25 569,50 3.5% Cargoes FOB Med 6,00 575,25 ↓ 576,25 576,00 575,25 573,25 569,00 568,00 1.0% Cargoes FOB NWE 10,75 632,00 ↓ 609,25 605,75 605,00 602,75 596,00 586,25 3% no. 6 USGC WB 0,55 89,50 ↓ 90,35 90,20 90,32 89,79 89,19 88,89 380 CST Cargoes FOB S'pore (1,50) 596,75 ↓ 598,75 597,75 597,50 596,25 594,50 592,75 0.1 % GO Barges FOB Rtdm 11,00 899,50 ↓ 899,25 898,25 898,25 897,25 892,25 - Physical Rotterdam 380 CST 6,00 580,00 ↓ 583,50 583,00 582,25 580,75 576,50 574,75 Physical Singapore 380 CST (1,00) 603,50 ↓ 604,00 603,00 602,75 601,50 599,75 598,00

Focus of the day: Gibraltar

There is some congestion in the Strait this morning, with Gibraltar and Ceuta slightly behind schedule and Algeciras running smoothly. The weather forecast for the rest of the week is quite good so operations should improve within the next few hours. There is good products availability with only some suppliers fully booked for the next couple of days, which affects bunker premiums for prompt requirements. CIF Med 3.5% is trading some 10 usd/mt above FOB Barges Rotterdam. The HILO keeps widening and is currently around 63 usd/mt in the Med while the CIF Med 1% premium over FOB NWE 1% is at 19 usd/mt. The Med market is trading down this morning.

Economy fundamentals this week

Fundamental Indicators Statistic Importance Date Time Period Consensus Last Actual Empire Manufacturing Medium 17-Mar 8:30 AM Mar 2.0 4.5 - Industrial Production Medium 17-Mar 9:15 AM Feb -0.1% -0.3% - Housing Starts Medium 18-Mar 8:30 AM Feb 875K 880K - Building Permits Medium 18-Mar 8:30 AM Feb 945K 937K - Core CPI Medium 18-Mar 8:30 AM Feb 0.1% 0.1% - FOMC Rate Decision Medium 19-Mar 2:00 PM Mar 0.25% 0.25% - Initial Claims Medium 20-Mar 8:30 AM 15-mar 330K 315K - Existing Home Sales Medium 20-Mar 10:00 AM Feb 4.55M 4.62M - Philadelphia Fed Medium 20-Mar 10:00 AM Mar 2.0 -6.3 - Leading Indicators Medium 20-Mar 10:30 AM 15-mar 0.2% 0.3% -

Source: OW Risk Management