World News
Oil Down as Tehran, Washington Gear Up For More Nuclear Talks
More optimism regarding Iran – this time that the next talks between Tehran and Washington will take place in Rome on Friday – caused oil prices to dip on Wednesday, albeit minimally considering that so far negotiations between the two countries have shown little progress.
Brent settled down 47 cents at $64.91 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate settled down 46 cents to $61.57.
Phil Flynn, senior market analyst with Price Futures Group Inc., said, "Now we're going for another round of peace talks so that offset that premium we put in."
Disappointing news came from the U.S. that also swayed trading came in the form of the Energy Information Administration reporting that crude inventories rose by 1.3 million barrels, in the week ended May 16, while gasoline stocks rose by about 800,000 barrels and distillate stockpiles added about 600,000 barrels.
Simmering in the background in terms of crude trading influencers was the possibility that Israel was possibly preparing to strike Iranian nuclear facilities.
One consequence of this scenario aside from hindering negotiations with Washington was that it would add more barrels to the market: Samantha Dart, co-head of global commodities research at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., said, "Iran has increased its supply by about a million barrels a day over the last couple of years…..if you remove a million barrels a day from Iran, this could represent an upside of about $8 a barrel to the crude oil price."
In other oil news on Wednesday, Kpler data showed that India is on track to import nearly 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude from Russia this month, a 10-month high; and strong imports of ESPO grade will continue in June and July.
ESPO spot premiums have risen as a result, and Kpler stated that it is "neutral to bullish on India's crude imports from Russia, with more tankers joining the fleet to transport Russian cargoes."
Key Bunker Prices More
| VLSFO | MGO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $/mt | +/- | $/mt | +/- | |
| Singapore | 529.50 | 8.00 | 620.00 | 1.00 |
| Rotterdam | 480.50 | 4.00 | 624.00 | 2.00 |
| Houston | 470.50 | 0.50 | 627.00 | 1.50 |
| Fujairah | 515.00 | 1.50 | 716.00 | 0.50 |
| Global 20 Ports Average | 540.00 | 1.50 | 714.00 | 0.50 |
| Global 4 Ports Average | 499.00 | 3.50 | 647.00 | 0.50 |
| Global Average Bunker Price | 573.00 | 2.00 | 761.00 | 2.50 |
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