Crude oil prices have fallen by as much as 10% as the meeting of the Oil Producing and Exporting Countries (OPEC) failed to agree on production cuts.
Saudi Arabia and Russia had previously worked together to manage production through the oil cartel, but on this occasion the two failed to reach an agreement leading to the world’s main oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, slashing its prices, with Brent crude falling to US$31.02 on 9 March.
For shipping this has meant a decline on the world index of HFO by more than US$28/tonne and VLSFO falling US$37/tonne. But far higher price falls were seen regionally with North Europe seeing bunker prices for HFO and VLSFO plummeting by US$35 and US$61/tonne with similar falls in Asia and North America. Only the relatively small bunkering market in Central America, which bucked the trend, saw a US$10/tonne increase in VLSFO.
Marine Gas Oil (MGO) also saw prices sharply decline by in excess of US$69/tonne to US$1/tonne in all regions, as a result of the collapse of the OPEC+ negotiations.
