A Touch Weaker

Pressure on the broader equity sphere (in the wake of the release of the FOMC’s Dec meeting minutes) has applied pressure to crude since Wednesday’s settlement, leaving WTI & Brent futures ~$1.00 softer on the day at typing.

• A reminder that firmer than expected U.S. ADP employment data had provided some support for crude in early NY trade on Wednesday, while the latest round of weekly DoE inventory data failed to meaningfully impact the space. The DoE data was broadly inline with the picture sketched out by the weekly API inventory estimate (drawdown in headline crude stocks, alongside a notable build in distillates & gasoline, with the latter potentially driven by the Omicron effect). Rocket launches on a U.S. military installation in Iraq also provided some support for crude, before the benchmarks pulled away from best levels into yesterday’s settlement in the wake of the aforementioned release of the FOMC’s Dec meeting minutes.