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 oil prices fell Wednesday, brushing off an unexpected drop in weekly U.S. crude supplies. In Libya, expectations that the rebel held eastern oil ports will reopen soon weighted also on Oil prices. Brent lost $0.83/bbl to settle at $104.79/bbl, while WTI slipped $0.12/bbl to close at $99.62/bbl. Brent crude flat price has broken down below 105 usd/bbl on the continuous chart and this level has not been seen since Nov 13 (where we traded below only for 1 day). Yesterday US ADP monthly jobs survey (191K) bolstered expectations for Friday’s key non –farm payrolls report. Today market will be looking at any dovish comments from the ECB chairman to support the market, US Jobless claims and ISM Non-Manufacturing Composite. Today Oil is trading around -0,20% lower.

Fueloil Specifics

The NWE bunker fuel oil markets reported relatively low demand levels and tight product avails for prompt deliveries yesterday. Delivered 380cst product in Antwerp was assessed app. $5/mt and nearly $7/mt down in Rotterdam. Suppliers in both ports reported higher premiums for prompt deliveries both for LSFO and HSFO products. Physical in Singapore is for now most affected by the drag down in crude. Wednesday the ex-wharf 380-cst marine fuel extended losses for the third straight session to a more than nine-month low. Singapore's bunker prices were unable to resist the slide in crude also because of sluggish demand for fuel oil in Asia amid voluminous supplies, particularly from the West, traders said. Fuel oil supplies scheduled to arrive this month in Asia from Western countries rise to 4.33 mln mt, shipping data show at least 26 tankers, including 8 VLCCs, booked to carry the fuel to Asia. This is up from 4.22 mln mt reported on March 26. 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) (0,12) 99,62 ↓ 98,99 98,24 96,45 98,19 95,61 93,28 ICE Brent Swap (1st month) (0,83) 104,79 ↓ 104,60 104,46 104,21 103,80 102,12 101,51 ICE Gasoil Swap (1st month) (1,00) 873,50 ↑ 876,67 876,92 877,00 877,22 874,61 - 3.5% Barges FOB Rtdm (8,50) 571,50 ↑ 568,50 564,25 563,25 561,25 557,25 556,00 3.5% Cargoes FOB Med (7,50) 563,50 ↑ 562,50 561,25 560,25 558,25 554,25 552,75 1.0% Cargoes FOB NWE (19,00) 627,75 ↑ 618,50 602,25 598,25 594,50 584,50 574,75 3% no. 6 USGC WB (0,03) 88,30 ↓ 87,45 87,65 87,87 87,49 86,95 86,63 380 CST Cargoes FOB S'pore (3,75) 584,00 ↑ 582,00 583,25 583,25 582,25 580,25 579,25 0.1 % GO Barges FOB Rtdm (19,75) 872,25 ↑ 878,25 878,25 878,25 877,25 875,25 - Physical Rotterdam 380 CST (7,00) 574,75 ↑ 573,75 569,50 568,50 566,50 562,50 561,25 Physical Singapore 380 CST (5,00) 588,00 ↑ 587,25 588,50 588,50 587,50 585,50 584,50

Focus of the day: Houston

As April started on a special note of being the most challenging month of the year, U.S. crude oil prices tried to rally on bullish data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) Wednesday that showed domestic crude inventories fell last week. But the American benchmark held in negative territory on a number of other economic factors. Several delays were reported in the area this week due to the closure of the Houston Ship Channel following a fuel oil spill after a collision of two vessels. The situation also affected vessels working cargo in Houston calling re-supply in Panama next; while New Orleans experienced some delays caused by weather conditions. Ex-wharf 380cst HSFO product was offered down to $610 in New Orleans, an unchanged premium of $30 to Houston. Panama fixing levels for ETA from April 12th ongoing was seen as far down as $595/mt with expectations of avails improvement for the second half of the month being reported by physicals suppliers.

Economy fundamentals this week

Fundamental Indicators Statistic Importance Date Time Period Consensus Last Actual Chicago PMI Medium 31-Mar 9:45 AM Mar 60.0 59.8 55.9 ISM Index High 1-Apr 10:00 AM Mar 54.2 53.2 53.7 ADP Employment Change Medium 2-Apr 8:15 AM Mar 215K 139K 191K Factory Orders Medium 2-Apr 10:00 AM Feb 1.1% -0.7% 1.6% Initial Claims Medium 3-Apr 8:30 AM 29-mar 320K 311K - Trade Balance Medium 3-Apr 8:30 AM Feb -$40.5B -$39.1B - ISM Services High 3-Apr 10:00 AM Mar 53.0 51.6 - Nonfarm Payrolls High 4-Apr 8:30 AM Mar 185K 175K - Unemployment Rate High 4-Apr 8:30 AM Mar 6.6% 6.7% -

Source: OW Risk Management