Jane Xie News

The number of tankers used for storing fuel oil along the Singapore Strait has risen since the Ukraine war broke out and could rise further as more of Russia's supplies hit by sanctions head to Asia, industry sources and analysts said.A rise in floating storage supply along the strategic waterway is an indicator that more supplies are available to Asia, which will help ease tight markets. But, at the same time, it could limit a recovery in spot fuel oil prices for the year and weigh on Asian refining profits for the grade.Earlier this month…

The number of tankers used for storing fuel oil along the Singapore Strait has risen since the Ukraine war broke out and could rise further as more of Russia's supplies hit by sanctions head to Asia, industry sources and analysts said.A rise in floating storage supply along the strategic waterway is an indicator that more supplies are available to Asia, which will help ease tight markets. But, at the same time, it could limit a recovery in spot fuel oil prices for the year and weigh on Asian refining profits for the grade.Earlier this month…

JL Petroleum Pte Ltd has been fined by Singapore after pleading guilty in court to supplying marine fuel in the world's top bunkering hub without a valid license, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said in a statement on Wednesday. MPA had brought charges against JL Petroleum for supplying marine fuel, also known as bunker, on 14 occasions between June 2 and June 25 in 2013, it said. JL Petroleum executives were not immediately available to comment. All bunker suppliers operating in the Port of Singapore have to obtain a license from the MPA. There are currently 59 licensed bunker suppliers in Singapore, down from around 65 suppliers last year, according to the MPA website. Reporting By Jane Xie

Singapore's Maritime Port Authority is seeking proposals on liquefied natural gas bunker supplies as it shifts away from fossil fuels towards gas while trying to maintain its role as the world's top bunkering hub. The move to issue bunker supplier licences to the gas sector complements the city-state's push to profile itself as an LNG hub and is a step towards meeting its own deadline of supplying LNG fuel to ships by 2020. "The bunkering industry is an important and integral part of Singapore's global hub port," the port said in a statement on Tuesday. Applicants have to submit proposals by Sept. 30 detailing the bunkering supply and delivery model, their LNG sources and marketing plans for the sale of LNG to customers in the port, the statement added.

As traders speculate over what type of oil is being kept by Iran in floating storage, two Iranian oil officials said on Thursday that the oil was condensate and fuel oil. The millions of barrels on ships could be delivered quickly to Iran's customers once sanctions are lifted and some traders believe a substantial part is crude, making them concerned about its impact on a global market already suffering a supply glut. "There is no crude oil in our floating storage, only condensate and fuel oil," said one of the officials, who declined to be identified due to company policy. Another official also said no crude was being stored. World powers and Iran reached a landmark deal last week…

Marine fuel prices are set to fall further after plunging to their lowest since late 2013, with traders in Singapore, the world's largest ship refuelling hub, saying they are looking to sell quickly in the face of a global supply glut. End users of marine fuels, also known as bunkers, typically pay a premium over the cost of larger cargoes to account for logistics costs, but that flipped to a discount from early June. "The market is flooded with oil and everyone is desperate to sell quickly, so you have a price war," said a Singapore-based trader. The 380-cst marine fuel grade traded at a discount of $1.95 a tonne below the prices of large cargoes on Monday, after hitting a discount as wide as $5.38 a tonne late last week.

Over $750 million worth of fuel oil traded 1st week of June. Trading frenzy leads to record price swing. Major commodity houses are betting against each other on the direction of fuel oil in Singapore, the world's largest market for shipping fuel, in a clash that has led to a record price swing and is set to smash monthly trading levels. More than $750 million of physical cargoes have been traded in the first week of June during an end-of-day pricing window, accounting for about 60 percent of Singapore's average monthly sales of the fuel and creating logistics challenges at the port. Strong buying has been led by Swiss-based Glencore and Mercuria, China's PetroChina, and oil major BP, daily trade data shows.

British oil major BP and China's Sinopec Fuel Oil are starting a Singapore-based joint venture in ship fuel storage and sales, BP said in a statement on Tuesday. The 50/50 joint venture, which builds on a similar agreement signed in 2011, will leverage both companies' existing bunkering locations and activities to deliver marine fuel to their customers, with a strong focus on Chinese shipping companies, a BP spokeswoman said in an email. Shanghai, Ningbo and Shenzhen, China," the statement said. Unlike the Singapore market which is open to around 60 suppliers, the Chinese marine fuel market is limited to only a few players, including Sinopec, Chimbusco and Brightoil, trade sources said.

The window to sell Western fuel oil to Asia is starting to close as demand for a limited fleet of supertankers to store cheap crude pushes freight rates to multi-month highs, shipping and trade sources said. Crude prices have fallen nearly 60 percent since June and, with prices a year ahead already quoted about $10 a barrel dearer than now, crude traders have hired up to 20 supertankers to store oil with a view to turning a big profit later. That also adds to the cost of selling fuel oil to Asia. The region has taken in high volumes of fuel oil from Europe and the Mediterranean this month, but with the cost of chartering a supertanker rising to highs not seen in at least a year, it is an increasingly less profitable trade.

Global benchmark Brent crude oil closed down nearly a dollar a barrel Friday after a day of choppy trading despite expectations of new investments in the new year, as strong mid-day rallies in crude fizzled. Brent was down 91 cents at $56.42 a barrel. Earlier, it touched a post-2009 low of $55.48, having averaged around $110 a barrel between 2011 and 2013. Front-month U.S. crude for February delivery settled down 58 cents a barrel at $52.69, before a steep 50-cent drop post-settlement. The U.S. dollar index was 0.9 percent stronger on Friday. The combination of the supply glut and the strong dollar has been a "double whammy" for crude oil prices, said Walter Zimmerman, chief technical analyst at United-ICAP. "This is a long-term cyclical downtrend," Zimmerman said.

An oil tanker and a bulk carrier collided off Singapore on Friday causing some crude oil spillage, the Maritime Port Authority said. A Libyan-registered oil tanker Alyarmouk collided with the Singapore-registered bulk carrier Sinar Kapuas about 11 nautical miles north-east of Pedra Branca, east of Singapore. There was no report of injury and traffic in the port and the Strait of Singapore was unaffected, the authority said in a statement. The charterer of the oil tanker and volume of spillage were not immediately clear, MPA said in a telephone call. According to Reuters' shiptracking tool, Alyarmouk was en route to Yangpu, China, while Sinar Kapuas's current position was not traceable. The two vessels are currently safely anchored and in stable condition.

Swiss trading house Mercuria has moved to become a significant player in the marine fuel market by hiring a team of close to 40 former employees from the once-largest supplier, traders and sources close to the matter said on Tuesday. The bankruptcy of Denmark's OW Bunker, which had controlled around 7 percent of the global shipping fuel market and employed more than 600 people, has given Mercuria an opportunity to beef up its business shortly after it acquired the physical commodities unit of JPMorgan Chase & Co. The hiring of OW Bunker traders will help integrate Mercuria's existing fuel oil business, trading cargoes typically in sizes of 20,000 tonnes, and the sale of fuel in smaller lots to be delivered to ships, which take only up to around 5,000 tonnes per delivery.

The downfall of a leading marine fuel supplier that prompted sellers to tighten credit terms in Singapore is skewing the post-OW Bunker jostle for market share towards cash-rich trading companies and barge operators, traders said. Marine fuel premiums over cargo prices in Singapore, the world's busiest refuelling port, have stayed elevated after hitting their highest in more than two years in the wake of OW Bunker's collapse as worried buyers tried to lock in prompt supplies. Besides oil majors - such as BP, Shell and ExxonMobil - which have integrated supply systems including storage and fuel-delivery tankers, rivals with deep pockets or a fleet of barges are also expected to expand their market share.

OW Bunker owes financers more than $750 million-creditor data; six more vessels arrested; 7 in total. The Singapore arm of bankrupt Danish shipping fuel trader OW Bunker will meet with its liquidator KPMG in early December to discuss the firm's outstanding debt, which totals almost $1.5 billion globally. OW Bunker, a leading supplier of marine fuel oil known as "bunker", filed for bankruptcy in Denmark earlier this month after it revealed losses of at least $125 million at one of its Singapore-based subsidiaries Dynamic Oil Trading, sending the bunker fuel market into turmoil. Oil firms have stepped up legal action against OW Bunker's Singapore units since the announcement with the arrest of ships, now totalling seven, Singapore court documents show.

Demand for shipping fuel at major Indian ports has climbed in the past week by up to 25 percent as the cost of refuelling at Singapore, Asia's bunkering hub, soared following the collapse of the world's leading supplier, traders said. The announcement of OW Bunker's bankruptcy drove up shipping fuel prices in Singapore - one of the cheapest ports in Asia in which to refuel - to their highest in more than two years as oil supplies tightened due to credit worries. Marine fuel prices in Mumbai, India's largest bunkering port, were still around $15 a tonne higher than in Singapore on a delivered basis, but a Singapore-based trader said shipowners could be interested in bunkering in India when the price difference between Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, and Singapore narrows.

Hong Kong bunker suppliers are expecting up to 20 percent more inquiries from shipowners who have had fuel contracts cancelled after the world's largest supplier announced its bankruptcy last week, sources said on Friday. Since the fall of OW Bunker, marine fuel prices in Singapore have climbed steadily and spiked to their highest in more than two years on Thursday, as tightening of credit led to a supply crunch amid prompt demand. "My impression is enquiries have gone up 20 percent, though it's hard to put a figure to it. There were more prompt orders for delivery between five to ten days," said a Hong Kong-based marine fuel seller. Hong Kong's 380-cst marine fuel was at least $10 a tonne cheaper than that in Singapore, on a delivered basis, on Thursday.

Major oil companies, trade firms to expand market share; tight credit hits small retailers. The collapse of OW Bunker in the wake of an alleged fraud at its Singapore trading unit will shake up the city state's more than $25 billion marine fuel market, the world's largest, as major companies expand and small ones shrink amid a credit squeeze. OW Bunker, a leading supplier of marine fuel oil known as "bunker", filed for bankruptcy in Denmark a week ago after it revealed losses of at least $125 million at Dynamic Oil Trading, prompting banks to refuse to provide new credit lines. In a market that relies heavily on open credit, traders fear the incident could create a domino effect, pulling more companies down with it.

Fuel barge Laguna, carrying oil sold by Hin Leong to OW Bunker, arrested. Total claims against OW Bunker Far East and Dynamic Oil now over S$5 mln. Oil firms stepped up legal action against the Singapore units of bankrupt ship fuel trader OW Bunker with the arrest of a ship fuel delivery barge Laguna on Wednesday and claims totalling more than S$5 million. Court documents seen by Reuters showed that the overall amount of claims made against OW Bunker Far East (Singapore) and Dynamic Oil Trading, both Singapore-based subsidiaries of the Danish firm, over unpaid supplies now total around S$5.3 million ($4.11 million) made by nearly half a dozen companies. Law firm Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP issued a writ of summons on Nov. 8 on behalf of Hin Leong Trading against O.W.

Traders and shipping companies scrambled to source fuel and take over supply contracts on Friday after Danish marine fuel supplier OW Bunker said a suspected fraud at its Singapore subsidiary had pushed it to the brink of bankruptcy. The alleged fraud at Singapore-based subsidiary Dynamic Oil Trading is potentially one of the biggest financial market scandals to hit the city state since 2004, when China Aviation Oil (Singapore) ran up oil futures losses of $550 million. Some institutional and individual investors in Denmark said they were considering taking legal action against the firm.

Brent crude fell below $86 a barrel on Friday on news of strong supply from Middle Eastern OPEC producers and as a confirmed case of Ebola in New York spooked global equities markets. Iraq increased its oil supply in October, and Libya's production remained high, despite deep instability in both countries. Brent crude for December fell $1.02 a barrel to a low of $85.81 and was trading around $85.90 by 1205 GMT. U.S. December crude fell 85 cents to $81.24 a barrel. On Thursday Brent crude prices rose sharply on news of lower supply from Saudi Arabia…

Oil traded slightly lower below $99 a barrel on Thursday, pressured by ample supply and concern over the weakening of demand growth in major consumer nations, as well as a rise in the U.S. dollar. Threats to supply as Libya's output fell and talk of OPEC production cuts limited the decline for global benchmark Brent, which hit a 26-month low on Monday after data showing a slowdown in China's factory output raised demand concerns. "At present, it is mainly news of (possible) lower OPEC production that is lending prices buoyancy," said Eugen Weinberg, analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. Brent was down 19 cents at $98.78 by 1341 GMT. Prices have declined around 15 percent from a nine-month peak of $115.71 reached in June. U.S. crude fell 10 cents to $94.32 a barrel.

Demand for marine fuel in Singapore, the world's largest bunkering hub, is beginning to take a hit as high flat prices kept buyers on the sidelines, traders said. Reuters data showed. "This week's demand is not as good as previous weeks. Flat price wise, anything below $600 a tonne should be able to attract buyers back," said a Singapore-based trader. Bunker prices have hovered above the $600-a-tonne mark since last Wednesday, after being mired below the level for more than a month since mid-March. The weakening end-user demand has also squeezed the intermonth spread, which refers to the price spreads between June and July swaps, of benchmark 380-cst, traders said. The 380-cst intermonth spread stood at $2.50 a tonne to Singapore spot quotes, down 50 cents from Monday, Reuters data showed.

The cash premium of the benchmark 380-cst fuel oil grade firmed for the fourth straight session on Wednesday, underpinned by lower supply in the region in early April. The 380-cst cash premium rose 76 percent or close to $1 a tonne to a two-week high of $2.22 a tonne, Reuters data showed. this period has provided some support for the 380-cst market. Around 4.17 million tonnes of fuel oil will arrive in April from the West, of which only an estimated 950,000 tonnes or just 20 percent of the total, will make a landfall in the first 10 days of the month, Reuters reported earlier. On the other hand, demand from southeast Asia is also set to increase…