Increased volumes of HSFO from Baltic Sea head to US.

摘要

In July, over 7.10MM mt (1.53MM b/d) of HSFO was export from the Baltic Sea to the US, where refineries have been processing the sour residual fuel in cokers. In addition, the US bought the majority, or 46%, of the Baltic Sea's total HSFO exports, compared to 43% in June, 41% in May, and 18% in April. An average of 35% of HSFO exports from the Baltic Sea arrived in the US from Jan. to July 2020, compared to 10.8% during the same period in 2019. The bulk of the exports came from Russia, followed by Estonia. In total, the US imported 10.68MM bbl (344K b/d) of HSFO, 69% of which came from Russia's Black and Baltic Sea ports. Russia sent 1.078MM mt (233K b/d) of fuel oil to the US in July, a 16% month-on-month increase. From Jan. to July, the US imported 6.4MM mt (201K b/d) of fuel from Russia. According to market sources, the discount of US Gulf Coast HSFO to ICE front-month Brent crude futures narrowed to negative-$3.48/bbl, which was the narrowest discount since $3.06/bbl on July 11 2019. As a result, one US refiner will continue buying HSFO until prices for sour grades decline. US refiners' supply of sour crude has been cut due to US sanctions on Venezuela.