Crude Marginally Firmer Alongside E-Minis

WTI & Brent crude futures firmed during the final Asia-Pac session of the week, adding circa $0.50 vs. settlement levels, aided by an uptick in U.S. e-minis. This comes after the benchmarks printed at the lowest levels seen since early October on Thursday, with Brent showing below $80 in the process, before recovering.

• A potential coordinated stockpile release from the U.S. & China continues to dominate news flow in the space. However, Goldman Sachs note that any such move "would 1) only provide a short-term fix to a structural deficit, 2) is now fully priced-in following the $6/bbl move lower in recent weeks (pricing in a release of more than 100mn bbl into OECD stocks), and 3) would not help the slow global supply response that only higher oil prices can overcome. In fact, if such a release is confirmed and manages to keep oil prices depressed in the context of low trading activity into year-end, it would create clear upside risks to our 2022 price forecast."