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Bunker prices up 25% in 30 days on the back of Covid-19 vaccines and OPEC+ support

VLSFO prices hit levels not seen since early March, and in Singapore rise from $305/ton to around $380/ton (up 25%) in this very short period, says Integr8 Fuels.
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Integr8 Fuels, the bunker trading and brokerage arm of Navig8, on Thursday (3 December) published an analysis on the market forces behind the rise in bunker prices after OPEC+’s well received announcement to extend existing supply cutbacks as well as successful Covid-19 vaccine trials:

VLSFO prices have risen by $75/ton in just 30 days; the previous talk about a Covid-19 vaccine and a corresponding sharp rise in oil prices has now become a reality. In the past few weeks, we have had the very big news of 3 successful Covid-19 vaccine trials, with the corresponding jump in prices. There has been further price support with positive comments on the OPEC+ group extending their current cutbacks into 2021, and this has now finally been agreed with only a 0.5 million b/d increase in January (the original plan was to raise production quotas by 2 million b/d from January 2021).

The net result is that in past 30 days we have moved from a bearish position, when a second Covid wave was dominating the news, to now, where the ‘imminent’ implementation of vaccine programs is seen as the path to significant gains in oil demand.  This has seen VLSFO prices hit levels not seen since in early March, and in Singapore rise from $305/ton to around $380/ton (up 25%) in this very short period.

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At the same time forward curves have jumped higher, although they remain extremely flat through the next 18 months.  The Singapore VLSFO curve at the start of November was a clear reflection of the near-term bearish concerns from the second covid-19 wave, showing a drop in December and only a gradual uplift through the outlook period.  The recent news on vaccines had an immediate bullish impact on prices and now for the earlier part of next year, the VLSFO forward curve in Singapore is almost $60/ton higher than it was four weeks ago.  Even looking as far out as 2022, the curve is still more than $40/ton above what it was showing at the start of November.

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Another aspect to the price rise has been a widening in the VLSFO/HSFO spread.  Differentials tend to widen as prices rise (and narrow as prices fall), and this has happened with this latest price increase.  Although the differential between the two bunker grades is still very narrow by historical standards, the VLSFO/HSFO spread in Singapore is now around $70/ton compared with only $53/ton at the start of November.

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General developments in the oil markets would indicate a further widening in this spread, based on the relative weakening of HSFO prices and relative strengthening of VLSFO as:

  • Demand for fuel oil into the power-generation sector eases; Saudi Arabian demand is down after the summer peak aircon demand and Pakistan has decided not to go ahead with a 500,000 ton HSFO tender for December delivery, although LSFO demand in South Korea is up in December by around 100,000 tons as utilities move to replace coal-fired capacity that has been shut-in because of winter air-pollution issues.
  • and at the same time, relative VLSFO prices strengthen with improving margins for gasoil, gasoline and jet fuel margins as product demand in Asia rises (and product supply in Europe is reduced because of cuts in refinery runs).

Any further increases in oil prices are likely to add to these general widening pressures on the VLSFO/HSFO spread, lending further support to scrubber economics.

We have always referred to the underlying movements in bunker prices being led by crude oil, and of course it is the same this time around.  VLSFO has largely tracked changes in the hugely traded Brent and WTI crude futures markets, and will continue to respond to the current big stories of vaccines, the prospects for oil demand and OPEC+ outcomes.


Photo credit and source: Integr8 Fuels
Published: 4 December, 2020

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Winding up

Singapore: Xihe Holdings subsidiaries to be wound up voluntarily, creditors to submit claims

Creditors of Da Zhong Tankers and Xin Ying Shipping are required on or before 17 July 2026 to send in their names and addresses and particulars of their debts or claims to appointed liquidators, says notice.
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June 19, 2026

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Xihe Holdings Pte Ltd subsidiaries Da Zhong Tankers Pte Ltd and Xin Ying Shipping Pte Ltd will voluntarily wind up following resolutions that were passed by written means, according to a Government Gazette notice published on Thursday (18 June).

The resolutions set out below were duly passed:

  • SPECIAL RESOLUTION – WINDING-UP

That the Company be wound up voluntarily pursuant to section 160(1)(b) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018.

  • ORDINARY RESOLUTION – APPOINTMENT OF LIQUIDATORS

That Paresh Tribhovan Jotangia and Ho May Kee of Grant Thornton Singapore Private Limited, 8 Marina View, #40-04/05 Asia Square Tower 1, Singapore 018960 be and are hereby appointed as joint and several liquidators to conduct the said winding-up and that their remuneration be fixed on the usual scale of their professional charges for the work involved.

  • SPECIAL RESOLUTION – POWERS OF LIQUIDATORS

That the liquidators of the Company be authorised to exercise any of their powers given by section 177, 144 (1) and (2) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 and to distribute to members, in specie, any part of the assets of the Company.

In another notice, the liquidator of the company said creditors are required on or before 17 July 2026 to send in their names and addresses with particulars of their solicitors (if any) to liquidator Paresh Tribhovan Jotangia at Grant Thornton Singapore Private Limited, 8 Marina View, #40-04/05 Asia Square Tower 1, Singapore 018960. 

The liquidator may require creditors or their solicitors to “come in and prove their said debts or claims at such time and place as shall be specified in such notice or in default thereof, they will be excluded from the benefit of any distribution made before such debts are proved.”

Related: Singapore: Additional Xihe Holdings subsidiaries to be placed under judicial management

 

Photo credit: steve pb from Pixabay
Published: 19 June, 2026

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Winding up

Singapore: Liquidator of Parakou Shipping issues notice of dividend

Second and final dividend to admitted creditors of Parakou Shipping is payable by 14 July, according to Government Gazette notice.

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June 19, 2026

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A notice of dividend for Parakou Shipping Pte Ltd, which is currently in voluntary liquidation, was published on the Government Gazette on Thursday (18 June). 

The following are the details of the notice:

Name of Company : Parakou Shipping Pte Ltd (In Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation)
Address of Registered Office : c/o KordaMentha, 50 Raffles Place, 25-01 Singapore Land Tower, Singapore 048623
Amount per centum : 0.55 per centum of admitted claims (in accordance with the Order of Court HC/ORC 4175/2024)
First and Final or otherwise : Second and Final Dividend to admitted creditors (in accordance with the Order of Court HC/ORC 4175/2024)
When payable : By 14 July 2026
Where payable : c/o KordaMentha Pte Ltd, 50 Raffles Place, #25-01 Singapore Land Tower, Singapore 048623

Related: Singapore: Notice of intended dividend issued for Parakou Shipping Pte Ltd

 

Photo credit: Benjamin Child
Published: 19 June, 2026

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Alternative Fuels

MOL inks bio-LNG bunker fuel supply deals with Titan and Axpo for car carriers in Europe

Titan, part of Amsterdam-based Molgas, will continue to supply bio-LNG fuel in Northwest Europe, while Axpo will take charge of supply in the Mediterranean region.
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MOL inks bio-LNG bunker fuel supply deals with Titan and Axpo for car carriers in Europe

Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) on Thursday (18 July) said it has signed new supply agreements in Northern Europe and the Mediterranean region to expand the use of bio-LNG marine fuel on MOL-operated LNG-fuelled car carriers.

Titan, part of Amsterdam-based Molgas, will continue to supply bio-LNG fuel in Northwest Europe, while Axpo will take charge of supply in the Mediterranean region.

MOL said the agreement makes it possible for its company to supply bio-LNG fuel for automobile carriers in the Mediterranean region, specifically Port of Malaga and Barcelona in Spain, following the bio-LNG fuel supply agreement in Western Europe, which commenced in March last year.

The bio-LNG fuel to be supplied in this initiative has a lifecycle carbon intensity (carbon dioxide emissions per unit of energy consumption) of -15 g-CO2/MJ or less, from production through consumption. Furthermore, this bio-LNG fuel has obtained International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC-EU). 

“Through this supply agreement, MOL has established a framework that ensures a continuous and stable supply of bio-LNG fuel not only in Northern Europe but also in the Mediterranean,” the company said.

As part of the group’s efforts to adopt alternative fuels and achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it is utilising LNG-fuelled vessels as a bridge solution to facilitate the transition to carbon-neutral fuels such as bio-LNG and synthetic LNG (e-methane).

In 2025, MOL signed a bio LNG fuel supply agreement in Northwest Europe with Titan, part of the Molgas, and MOL has continued this bio LNG fuel supply agreement with the same company in 2026 as well.

 

Photo credit: Mitsui OSK Lines
Published: 19 June, 2026

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