Crude A Touch Higher Overnight

WTI & Brent crude futures sit ~$0.70 above their respective settlement levels, aided by an uptick in e-minis.

• This comes after the broader risk-off mantra witnessed during NY hours, on the back of Omicron worry and the detection of the first case of the strain in the U.S., weighed on crude, resulting in modest losses on the day.
• Wednesday’s DoE inventory data provided a smaller than expected drawdown in headline crude stocks, alongside wider than expected builds for both distillate and gasoline stocks, as well as a build in stocks at the Cushing hub. A bearish release on net.
• The OPEC+ meeting headlines on Thursday, with focus falling on the potential for any adjustment to the previously outlined plans to hike the group’s cumulative output by 400K bpd/month in the wake of the well-documented agreement on the part of some of the major oil consuming nations re: the coordinated release from their respective national oil stockpiles. A reminder that Wednesday saw U.S. Deputy Energy Secretary Turk note that the Biden admin could adjust the timing of its planned release from the SPR if global energy prices experience a “substantial drop,” with the other parties to the pact having the same optionality.