Crude Higher and Cracks Edge Lower After US Stock Data

Crude ticks higher after US inventory data comes in largely in line with expectations although with a much larger impact of the cold weather on refinery outages than expected. Diesel and gasoline cracks spreads are edging lower following the data release.

• US crude stocks showed a small build as refinery utilisation plunged due to the severe weather disruption at the end of December. Refinery utilisation fell by 12.4% to the lowest since Mar 2021. Crude exports rose back above 4mbpd again to remain at range highs while production edged back up to 12.1mbpd.
• US gasoline demand fell by the most since March 2020 and distillate demand fell by the most since May 2020.
• Product exports increased and gasoline imports remain high but distillate imports low as production of both fell significantly due to the drop in refinery utilisation.
• New York Harbour gasoline stocks increased by more than 7% last week which should help ease the impact of the current Colonial pipeline outage.
  • Brent MAR 23 up 1.8% at 79.27$/bbl
  • WTI FEB 23 up 1.9% at 74.23$/bbl
  • WTI-Brent down -0.2$/bbl at -4.78$/bbl
  • Brent MAR 23-APR 23 up 0.04$/bbl at -0.13$/bbl
  • Brent JUN 23-DEC 23 up 0.18$/bbl at 1.81$/bbl
  • US gasoline crack down -0.1$/bbl at 21.95$/bbl
  • US ULSD crack down -0.8$/bbl at 52.16$/bbl