Americas Daily Oil Summary: TMX to Begin May 1

Trans Mountain's expanded oil pipeline system will start commercial operations on May 1 according to the company on Wednesday.

• Analysts told Reuters that the operations’ May 1 start date is earlier than expected, with Wood Mac seeing late May or early June as more realistic.
• Venezuelan crude oil production is estimated to decline to 890kbpd by the end of 2025, if the US will reimpose sanctions according to Rystad Energy’s senior VP Jorge Leon. However, output could hit 1m b/d in US extends sanctions relief, Leon said.
• Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that the 340k b/d Dos Bocas refinery will begin producing diesel in April.
• Air China operated its first round-trip flight from Beijing to New York on Sunday after China and the United States reached an agreement to increase the number of between each nation.
• Initial jobless claims increased more than expected to a seasonally adjusted 221k (cons 214k) in the week to Mar 30 after a slightly upward revised 212k (initial 210k).
• The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow has been revised down to 2.5% in the latest Q1 estimate for real GDP growth from 2.8% in the Apr 1 update.
• Greenback: The USD has softened on the day to a near two-week low as economic data, including higher-than-expected initial jobless claims data, is more supportive of faster rate cuts.