Crude Regains Ground After Larger than Expected US Stock Draw

Crude regains some ground after a larger than expected crude draw in the updated EIA US inventory data. Gasoline and diesel crack spreads remain relatively unchanged following the small expected stock builds.

• The crude draw was driven by an increase in exports back above 5mbpd for the first time since March offsetting higher imports and a drop in refinery utilisation while production remains unchanged. Cushing stocks as expected resumed the trend higher seen since April to the highest since June 2021.
• Diesel and gasoline crack spreads remain largely unchanged after gasoline and distillates stocks showed a small build on the week. The builds come with a decline in production due to the unexpected lower refinery runs and with a small drop in imports. Distillates were slightly offset by higher exports.
• Four week implied gasoline demand continued to trend higher on the week but distillates demand fell further to the lowest since January.
  • Brent AUG 23 up 0.9% at 72.94$/bbl
  • WTI AUG 23 up 1.2% at 68.5$/bbl
  • WTI-Brent up 0.14$/bbl at -4.5$/bbl
  • WTI AUG 23-SEP 23 up 0.03$/bbl at -0.17$/bbl
  • WTI DEC 23-DEC 24 up 0.28$/bbl at 2.29$/bbl
  • US gasoline crack down -0.1$/bbl at 34.72$/bbl
  • US ULSD crack down -0.8$/bbl at 31.68$/bbl