Availability has tightened across regional ports amid strong demand, and a prolonged pipeline outage in Vancouver has spiked the port’s bunker prices.
Bunker availability has come under pressure from high demand, with longer lead times generally required in locations such as Los Angeles, New York and off the US Gulf Coast.
Prompt VLSFO and LSMGO availability is tight with certain suppliers in the Houston area, while others can accommodate prompt stems.
Supply is particularly tight offshore in locations like the Galveston Offshore Lightering Area (GOLA). A supplier’s earliest delivery date for VLSFO and LSMGO in GOLA is five days out, with earlier dates booked up.
US refineries have ramped up fuel oil production meet soaring demand. Fuel oil volumes supplied to refineries, bulk terminals and blenders rose by 29% from October to November, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.
Gulf Coast stocks have grown to three-week highs after a period of increased production. The region’s refineries produced 80% more fuel oil on a weekly average in November than in October.
Works to repair and restart Canada’s Trans Mountain oil pipeline are still ongoing, almost three weeks after it was shut as a precaution ahead of an incoming storm that brought mass flooding and also damage to road and rail infrastructure. The pipeline is an essential conduit for crude and oil products to Vancouver from Alberta, Canada’s major oil-producing province.
A bunker supplier in Vancouver gradually ran out of product to offer in the absence of resupply. Another supplier has offered, but at larger and larger price premiums to bunker ports along the US West Coast such as Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Francisco. Vancouver was often able to compete on price with these ports before the supply crunch.
Meanwhile, availability is also reduced in Los Angeles, where suppliers either have limited volumes to offer and working on resupply, or have tight bunker delivery schedules for days 4-8 days out.
Port Angeles and Seattle are nearby ports to Vancouver and could present viable options for more readily available supplies without too much deviation.
Prompt stems can also be hard to source in Panama. Several suppliers have tight availability for dates a week out. One can deliver with eight days of lead time. Another requires 3-5 days ahead.
Suppliers in Panama have seen low sulphur fuel oil arrive this week from St. Eustatius to storage tanks on Taboguilla Island by Balboa, and to storage in Bahia Las Minas near on Cristobal, according to cargo and vessel tracking.
An HSFO cargo is set to arrive in Taboguilla from Ecuador’s La Libertad on Saturday, while Cristobal has two HSFO cargoes scheduled to arrive from Rotterdam next week. HSFO380 has been especially tight in Panama recently, but could soon become more available again.
Source: ENGINE (https://engine.online/)