A Touch Above Three-Week Lows As IEA Release, COVID Outbreak In China Eyed

WTI is ~+$1.60 and Brent is ~+$1.80, printing $97.80 and $102.90 respectively at writing and operating a little above three-week lows recorded on Wednesday.

• To recap, both benchmarks closed ~$6 softer apiece on Wednesday, with non-U.S. International Energy Agency (IEA) member countries announcing plans to release 60mn bbls of crude from strategic reserves, alleviating some worry driving crude prices re: supply tightness. A note that the planned commitment comes on top of U.S. announcements last week to release 180mn bbls from the U.S. SPR.
• Looking to China, Shanghai has notched its sixth record-high daily COVID case count, with the tally for Apr 6 coming in just shy of 20K. Well-documented concern re: weaker Chinese energy demand has persisted as the city’s lockdown has been extended indefinitely, with most businesses and factories remaining shut for now.
• Elsewhere, EIA data released on Wednesday saw a surprise build in U.S. crude and distillate stockpiles, but a larger than expected drawdown in gasoline inventories and a decline in Cushing hub stocks as well. This comes after figures observed in reports of Tuesday’s weekly API estimates, which had pointed to increases in crude, distillate, and hub stocks, but a drawdown in gasoline stockpiles.