WTI Holds Losses After Large Crude Build, SPR 'Refill Plan' On Hold For 7th Straight Week
Oil prices are down hard this morning after OPEC+ postponed its meeting amid Saudi dissatisfaction with other members’ oil production levels.
“I think we need a cut,” Pierre Andurand, the renowned oil trader and founder of Andurand Capital Management, said in an interview with Bloomberg television earlier on Wednesday.
“The Saudis will probably want the other countries to cut as well, so I think it’s going to be a negotiation.”
The situation for oil bulls was not helped by a massive crude build reported by API last night.
API
Crude +9.05mm (+100k exp)
Cushing +640k
Gasoline -1.79mm (-600k exp)
Distillates -3.51mm (-600k exp)
DOE
Crude +8.70mm (+100k exp)
Cushing +858k
Gasoline +750k (-600k exp)
Distillates -1.02mm (-600k exp)
The official data confirmed API's big crude build (though a small bit lower) (and a build at Cushing) while Gasoline stocks rose in the official data (versus drawing down from API). This is the 8th straight weekly draw for Distillates stock...
Source: Bloomberg
The SPR remained flat for the seventh week in a row - despite being at prices where the Biden admin said they would refill...
Source: Bloomberg
US Crude production was flat at a recod high 132.mm b/d once again while the trend in rig counts continues lower...
Source: Bloomberg
WTI was trading around $74 ahead of the official data and barely moved on the print...
“If you are in OPEC+ shoes, they must be thinking that something needs to be done,” Christof Ruehl, senior analyst at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, said on Bloomberg television.
Yet “it will be more difficult for them to do something than people expect. It’s hard to see how they could get on the same page.”
Meanwhile, although gas prices are down significantly from their summer highs, we note they are still 21% above average for Thanksgiving week...
Get back to work Mr.Biden!
