WTI Extends Gains After Small Crude Build, SPR At 1983 Lows
Oil prices are hovering in the green after a roller-coaster overnight as Saudi Arabia slashed its crude prices, signaling tepid demand, and risk-off sentiment clipped broader markets.
Dollar strength this morning after solid labor market data is also not helping crude.
Crude inventory figures later Thursday will give a first insight into the impact of pre-Christmas cold weather on US stockpiles, after the American Petroleum Institute reported a build on Wednesday.
API
Crude +3.30mm
Cushing +700k
Gasoline +1.20mm
Distillates -2.40mm
DOE
Crude +1.69mm (+1.1mm exp)
Cushing +244k
Gasoline -346k
Distillates -1.427mm
US crude stockpiles rose for a second straight week (though built less than API reported) while gasoline inventories drew down for a second week...
Source: Bloomberg
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve saw yet another drain last week (-2.748mm), dragging it to its lowest level since Nov 1983...
Source: Bloomberg
US Crude production inched higher last week but remains around the same as it has for six months...
Source: Bloomberg
Refinery Utilization plunged last week as the nationwide winter storm shut down ops...
Source: Bloomberg
US weekly gasoline product supplied, a proxy for demand, fell by the most since March, 2020. Distillates demand also fell to the lowest level since May 2020.
Source: Bloomberg
WTI was trading around $73.50 ahead of the official data and rallied after...
However, a deepening contango in front-month oil spreads reflects the dour near-term view...
Finally, we note that Saudi Arabia kept oil exports steady last month as it continued to implement an OPEC+ agreement aimed at stabilizing world crude markets, according to an official from the kingdom.
