Americas Market Update 25 Feb

Fuel prices have moved in mixed directions, and demand for VLSFO and LSMGO is strengthening in Los Angeles.

IMAGE: Container ship traffic in Los Angeles' Pier 300 Channel. Port of Los Angeles.

Changes on the day to 09.00 GMT today:

• VLSFO prices up in Houston, Zona Comun ($6/mt), and down in Los Angeles ($16/mt), Balboa ($12) and New York ($2/mt)
• LSMGO prices up in Los Angeles ($9/mt), New York ($3/mt) and Houston ($2/mt), and down in Balboa ($20/mt) and Zona Comun ($6/mt)
• HSFO prices up in Balboa ($2/mt), unchanged in Los Angeles and New York, and down in Houston ($3/mt)

Los Angeles' LSMGO price has increased the most across all ports and grades in the past day.

Demand for VLSFO and LSMGO has reportedly increased in recent weeks, leading to a tightening of supply for both grades, a source has said.

Meanwhile, Balboa's Hi5 spread has shrunk to $98/mt, from $105/mt yesterday, after the port's VLSFO and HSFO prices moved in opposite directions.

Availability remains steady in Balboa and Cristobal, with lead times for all three conventional grades at 3–5 days.

In Zona Comun, bunker operations are expected to be delayed by high wind gusts in the anchorage region until the end of the month. Operations can be suspended if wind speeds exceed 20 knots, in line with local authority regulations.

Lead times for VLSFO and LSMGO at the anchorage is currently 7–10 days.

Brent

The front-month ICE Brent contract has dropped by $0.54/bbl on the day, to trade at $71.06/bbl at 09.00 GMT.

Upward pressure:

Crude oil supply disruption concerns in the Middle East have provided some support to Brent’s price today.

Currently, the oil market's primary focus is on the upcoming third round of US-Iran nuclear talks – taking place in Geneva tomorrow.

“The rise in geopolitical tensions has taken focus away from the looming glut of oil that the market has been concerned about for several months,” ANZ Bank’s senior commodity strategist Daniel Hynes said.

Iran is the fourth-largest OPEC member, producing around 3.2 million b/d of crude oil.

Downward pressure:

Brent’s price has moved lower after the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a huge rise in US crude stocks.

US crude oil inventories gained by a staggering 11.4 million bbls in the week ending 20 February, according to estimates from the API.

The API data was “well above” the 1.9 million-bbl rise that market analysts were expecting, according to two analysts from ING Bank.

A rise in US crude stocks can indicate lower demand for oil and put some downward pressure on Brent's price.

“The more widely followed Energy Information Administration (EIA) report will be released later today,” ING Bank’s analysts said. “A similar crude oil stock build to the API would be the largest build since February 2024,” they further added.

By Gautamee Hazarika and Aparupa Mazumder

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