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Crude Flat Thursday as Houthi Shipping Fears Remain

OIL

Oil is flat Thursday after three days of rising prices supported by increasing threats from Houthi’s on global shipping aiming to pass the Suez Canal.

  • Brent FEB 24 up 0% at 79.71$/bbl
  • WTI FEB 24 down 0% at 74.2$/bbl
  • Gasoil JAN 24 down -0.8% at 791.75$/mt
  • WTI-Brent down -0.17$/bbl at -5.51$/bbl
  • Yemen’s Houthi rebels have vowed to continue targeting ships in the Red Sea despite the planned US-led naval task force to secure the area, according to Bloomberg.
  • About 12% of world shipping traffic passes up the Red Sea and through the Suez Canal but the impact on oil supply has been limited so far.
  • Crude supply threat is balanced against EIA data this week that showed an unexpected build in crude stocks while US crude output hit a new record high of 13.3 million bpd. Increases in non-OPEC supply such as the US have been adding downward sentiment to oil in Q4.
  • Other non-OPEC growth has emerged from Guyana, Brazil and Canada.
  • Brent FEB 24-MAR 24 up 0.05$/bbl at 0.09$/bbl
  • Brent MAR 24-APR 24 up 0.02$/bbl at 0.09$/bbl
  • The US will tighten enforcement of the price cap on Russian oil exports, a senior US Treasury Official said Dec. 20, cited by Bloomberg.
  • Nigeria’s 650kbpd Dangote oil refinery has received an 1mn barrels crude oil shipments from Shell, its second crude oil shipment this month, a company spokesperson said this week.
  • US gasoline and distillates both built as expected in the latest EIA report. Gasoline stocks rose with an increase in production and with another drop in implied demand to offset a drop in imports. Four-week distillates demand has fallen further below the previous five-year range, but gasoline demand has edged slightly higher above levels seen this time last year.
  • US gasoline crack down -0.2$/bbl at 18.08$/bbl
  • US ULSD crack up 0$/bbl at 38.43$/bbl

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