What next for the fuel market?
- What happened in 2021?
- What does this mean for 2022?
- What can you do to manage your fuel costs?
To say the last year has been volatile in the fuel market would be an understatement. The pandemic and subsequent impact on supply-chains continued to intensify with other geo-political events causing fuel prices to soar by an astonishing 40% from March 2021 to December 2021. AF members who had fixed their 2021 fuel requirements early in the year were able to reap the rewards of lower fuel prices as we moved past May.
Key contributors throughout 2021
Q1
January – Saudi Arabia voluntary cuts of 1M barrels per day
February – Texas ice storm cripples Texan oil refineries
March – Ever Given container ship blocks Suez Canal causing massive disruption in global trade
Q2
May – Colonial pipeline outage in the United States
May – Iranian nuclear talks resume in Vienna
Q3
July – OPEC agreed 400,000 barrels per day production hike per month
August – Hurricane Ida knocks out Louisiana refineries
September – Shortage of gas in Europe causes spike in gas prices and boosts oil prices
Q4
November – US releases oil from emergency reserves
November – Crude oil prices fall $10/b on news of a COVID Omicron variant
December – OPEC confirms the group will still proceed with the production hike in January 2022 of 400,000 barrels per day.
What can we expect in 2022?
Brent Crude has risen for the sixth week, the longest weekly streak since October and is now at a seven-year high at over $90 p/b. This year so far, oil prices have gained about 15% amid tensions between Russia, the world’s second-largest oil producer and a key natural gas provider to Europe, and the West over Ukraine. This has been exacerbated further by threats to the United Arab Emirates from Yemen’s Houthi movement, which have raised concerns about energy supply. This comes amid continued concerns of tight supplies as major producers continue their policy of limited output increases amid rising fuel demand.
Should I fix my fuel price in 2022?
We understand fixing the price of your fuel gives you one less thing to worry about and allows you to budget reliably, however current indications remain high. We would recommend contacting your AF Fuel team so we can provide you with a bespoke price and talk you through your options so you can make the most informed decision.
