Weekly Bitumen Report: Various Bitumen Price Directions in East, West, and Middle East

The attempts for peace negotiations between Israel and Hamas ended without any progress and even on August 28, Israel attacked Gasa Strip and killed lots of civilians. At the same time, Pentagon states that the oil tanker which caught fire in the Red Sea by the Houthis last week, is still on fire and oil leakage probably started.  The tanker carried one million barrels of crude oil and a leakage can cause one of the biggest oil pollutions in the world.

In the meantime, Selenskyj, Ukraine’s president, declared that his troop incursion into Kursk Region is a part of “Victory Plan” which will be handed over to Joe Biden within the next month.

According to Reuters, the recent uptrend in crude oil prices came to a halt in trading on Tuesday. It had seen a 7% increase over the previous three trading sessions due to expectations of a reduction in U.S. interest rates and concerns about supply stemming from fears of the Gaza conflict spreading to other parts of the Middle East and the shutdown of oil fields in Libya.

The analysts of ANZ Australian Bank noted that following the intensification of military tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, the markets remain on the sidelines. The risk of oil supply disruptions became a reality after the eastern region of Libya announced a halt to oil production and exports due to the deepening of political conflicts.

Based on the latest polls of Reuters from OPEC members about their oil production within the last month, it can be said that political disagreements in Libya can affect the oil production of 1.7 million barrels in this African country.

Besides, on August 26, Pentagon predicted that the risk of Iran’s wider attacks to Israel would be reduced somehow but it is still a potential risk.

On August 29, Brent Crude oil closed at 78.81 USD. Singapore 180 CST fell to 444 USD. The bitumen prices in Singapore and South Korea reached 498 USD and 410 USD respectively.

In Bahrain, bitumen prices remained in the range of 420 USD.

The price of bitumen in Europe was observed in the range of 430-490 USD.

Considering monsoon continuation in India and weak demand, the prices will probably face a slight modification or fall.

During the last week, despite a 7% fall in the base price of vacuum bottom, bitumen prices in Iran grew up as a result of a surge in shipping costs and an average competition of 4% for vacuum bottom among the refineries. Compared to last week, bitumen prices in Iran increased by approximately 10 USD.

To check the latest bitumen prices, visit https://infinitygalaxy.org/bitumen-price-today/.

This article was prepared by Razieh Gilani, the export manager of Infinity Galaxy.