World News
Analysts Ponder Trump/Putin Meeting As Oil Remains Rangebound
Oil prices remained rangebound on Monday, as anticipation of the upcoming meeting between U.S. president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin was augmented by another downward forecast of Brent prices due to higher supply.
Brent settled up 4 cents at $66.63 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate settled up 8 cents at $63.96.
Analysts have expressed doubt about Russia ending its war with Ukraine due to the Trump/Putin meeting, which takes place in Alaska on Aug. 15th.
They also worry that Trump's threat of secondary tariffs on Moscow if a ceasefire isn't reached and tariffs against India for buying Russian oil will merely strain international relations.
However, Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB, pointed out, "This is not a deal which will be closed on Friday, but rather the start of a process; Trump is very, very unlikely to slap sanctions on Russian oil while this process is ongoing, i.e. no disruption of Russian oil in sight."
Meanwhile, robust output from sanctioned countries and higher oil supply from South America caused UBS to lower its year-end Brent crude forecast from $68 per barrel to $62 per barrel.
Further stoking bearish sentiment was a Reuters survey showing that production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) rose to 27.38 million barrels per day (bpd) in July: an increase of 270,000 bpd compared with June.
In other oil news on Monday related to the Russia/Ukraine war, Azerbaijan announced that it allocated $2 million to help Ukraine restore energy infrastructure damaged in recent Russian missile and drone attacks, drawn from president Ilham Aliyev's own reserves.
Also, a source with knowledge of the matter told media that a Sunday drone attack on the Saratov refinery, owned by Rosneft, forced the facility to go offline; this is the third Russian crude processing facility to be damaged by Ukrainian drone strikes so far this month.
Key Bunker Prices More
| VLSFO | MGO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $/mt | +/- | $/mt | +/- | |
| Singapore | 502.50 | 3.50 | 660.00 | 1.00 |
| Rotterdam | 473.50 | 6.50 | 661.00 | 6.50 |
| Houston | 488.50 | 2.00 | 655.00 | 7.50 |
| Fujairah | 489.50 | 7.50 | 722.00 | 4.50 |
| Global 20 Ports Average | 533.50 | 3.50 | 749.00 | 7.50 |
| Global 4 Ports Average | 488.50 | 5.00 | 674.50 | 1.00 |
| Global Average Bunker Price | 573.50 | 3.50 | 794.50 | 3.00 |
Popular Now More
-
Aug 04World Kinect posted a loss of $25.6 million from its marine fuels segment in Q2 after an asset impairment that cost it $32 million. -
Aug 07"We had very different expectations," Monjasa's Jonas Bruslund tells Ship & Bunker. -
Aug 11Statkraft has secured a lease on land in Shetland for a 400 MW green hydrogen-to-ammonia plant.