World News
Oil Output Freeze: OPEC, Non-OPEC Producers to Meet April 17 in Doha
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Counties (OPEC) will meet with non-OPEC producers on April 17 in Doha to discuss a proposed freeze on oil output, Qatari Energy Minister Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada announced Wednesday.
"This comes as a follow-up to the meeting that was held last month in Doha between Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Venezuela at which they proposed an accord to freeze oil output at January 2016 levels and called on other producers to do so," a statement from the minister said.
While the final participant list has not yet been determined, it was noted that approximately 15 OPEC and non-OPEC producers, representing some 73 percent of global oil output, were now in support of the freeze.
Presumably Iran is not being counted amongst those in favour of such action, who followed up their previous comment that the Islamic Republic's inclusion in an output freeze was "ridiculous," by earlier this week saying they would only consider such a move when their output reaches four million bpd.
Until then, "leave us alone," was the message from Iranian oil minister Bijan Zanganeh.
Previous speculation of such a meeting taking place pointed to March 20 as the date, with crude prices rising on the rumours, only to fall back as it became clear that this was not to be.
With crude benchmarks jumping over five percent on today's news, if the last few months are any measure bunker buyers can expect firming prices in the coming days, and continued volatility as the rumours start to circulate in the run up to April 17.
Key Bunker Prices More
| VLSFO | MGO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $/mt | +/- | $/mt | +/- | |
| Singapore | 510.00 | 2.50 | 611.00 | 4.00 |
| Rotterdam | 477.00 | 1.00 | 618.50 | 4.00 |
| Houston | 469.50 | 0.50 | 610.00 | 2.00 |
| Fujairah | 501.50 | 1.50 | 708.50 | 3.50 |
| Global 20 Ports Average | 532.00 | 2.00 | 711.50 | 0.00 |
| Global 4 Ports Average | 489.50 | 0.50 | 637.00 | 0.50 |
| Global Average Bunker Price | 571.00 | 1.00 | 759.00 | 0.50 |
Popular Now More
-
Jun 05Marex's Bastien Declercq discusses how biofuel markets are likely to react to the IMO's new GHG regulation. -
Jun 04The MPA has not directly given a reason for declining to renew the licence. -
Jun 02The new joint venture will initially focus on biofuel supply in northern Europe, BlackCoral Energy Managing Partner Jesper Christensen tells Ship & Bunker.