World News
Iran Cedes The Spotlight To China, UK, As Worried Traders Cause Oil To Plummet
Middle East tensions took a back seat on Wednesday to bearish sentiment fuelled by a host of negative news reports, including economic data from China, and resulting in two key benchmarks plummeting by over 3 percent.
Brent settled down $2.73, or 3 percent, at $87.29 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate settled down $2.67, or 3.1 percent, at $82.69 per barrel.
In China the economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter, but other indicators including property investment, retail sales and industrial output showed that demand remained frail.
This was followed by reports that Britain's inflation rate slowed by less than expected in March, meaning rate cuts could be further off than initially anticipated.
Meanwhile, the Energy Information Administration disclosed that U.S. crude inventories rose by 2.7 million barrels to 460 million barrels last week, compared to expectations for a 1.4 million build.
As for the Israel/Iran hostilities, Hiroyuki Kikukawa, president of NS Trading, said, "Since the market had been rising until last week on supply worries amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, the relatively restrained Iranian aggression has not provided the ground for buying up."
Bloomberg noted with regard to upcoming trading influencers, "Potentially tightening the market further, the U.S. plans to reimpose oil sanctions on Venezuela if Nicolas Maduro's regime doesn't take steps in the next two days to allow a fairer vote in elections this year."
In other oil news on Wednesday, data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative showed that global oil demand jumped by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in February from January, hitting a five-year seasonal high, with seasonal-high demand for gasoline and an all-time high oil demand in India.
The monthly jump in oil demand was mainly driven by higher gasoline and jet fuel demand, the latter rising by 300,000 bpd year-on-year in February.
Key Bunker Prices More
| VLSFO | MGO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $/mt | +/- | $/mt | +/- | |
| Singapore | 645.50 | 3.50 | 771.50 | 1.50 |
| Rotterdam | 600.50 | 2.00 | 759.50 | 2.50 |
| Houston | 619.50 | 11.00 | 787.50 | 9.00 |
| Fujairah | 642.50 | 6.00 | 895.00 | 5.00 |
| Global 20 Ports Average | 662.00 | 4.00 | 851.00 | 5.00 |
| Global 4 Ports Average | 627.00 | 5.50 | 803.50 | 3.50 |
| Global Average Bunker Price | 714.50 | 1.00 | 890.50 | 2.50 |
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