World News
Numerous Bullish Signals Fail To Dent Oil's Downward Trajectory
Crude trading continued on its bewildering downward path on Thursday, with Brent shedding nearly 1.5 percent despite a host of bullish signals, including U.S. inventory draws and a downsizing of global glut expectations for the New Year.
In its latest update, the International Energy Agency, whose glut forecasts for 2026 were largely responsible for provoking widespread concern within the investment community, cut its forecast from 4.09 million barrels per day (bpd) to 3.84 million bpd, stating that sanctions on Russia and Venezuela along with global demand were stronger than previously assumed.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Information Administration confirmed earlier reports of a substantial draw in crude stocks, on the order of 1.8 million barrels, which indicates solid winter demand.
Additionally, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in its latest monthly report cited resilient demand in China, India and the Middle East combined with moderated non-OPEC supply growth as the reasons for the cartel maintaining a firm 2026 demand outlook.
But oil traders pointed to thin liquidity, algorithmic selling, and fund de-risking as elements driving their strategies, and this caused Julianne Geiger, researcher for Oilprice.com, to remark, "So while the fundamentals tilted bullish, the tape didn't follow—a reminder that sentiment, not balance sheets, is still driving December crude."
Key Bunker Prices More
| VLSFO | MGO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $/mt | +/- | $/mt | +/- | |
| Singapore | 429.00 | 4.50 | 642.50 | 13.00 |
| Rotterdam | 397.50 | 4.50 | 630.00 | 5.50 |
| Houston | 418.50 | 9.00 | 623.00 | 6.50 |
| Fujairah | 423.00 | 4.00 | 710.00 | 8.00 |
| Global 20 Ports Average | 464.00 | 2.00 | 739.00 | 5.00 |
| Global 4 Ports Average | 417.00 | 5.50 | 651.50 | 8.00 |
| Global Average Bunker Price | 513.00 | 2.00 | 781.50 | 4.50 |
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