Crude Futures Higher, On Track For Weekly Loss

After dipping on Thursday crude futures have come off closing lows, benchmarks creeping higher through the Asia-Pac session helped by the greenback dropping into negative territory. Despite the bounce so far in Asia oil markets are on track for weekly losses of over 1%. Oil markets traded in a choppy fashion Thursday, with markets eventually settling lower following reports that China had opened the taps on their national crude reserves in the latest move looking to rein in input costs and temper inflation. Given the frequency with which China have moved to temper metals prices using the same technique, a flattening of the WTI crude futures curve reflected the unease. The China-inspired move lower countered any bullish signals from the weekly DoE inventories data, which showed a sharp mark lower for refinery utilisation - with the lingering impact of Hurricane Ida still weighing on output, Shell earlier declared force majeure on several facilities due to the hurricane.