End of Day Oil Summary: Crude Falls on Venezuela Sanction Talks

WTI has fallen during US hours and has sunk below $87/b, amid hopes that the US could relax sanctions on Venezuela oil in exchange for competitive and international monitored presidential elections next year.

• WTI NOV 23 down -1.1% at 86.7$/bbl
• WTI NOV 23-DEC 23 up 0.08$/bbl at 1.42$/bbl
• The Biden administration and the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro have agreed to a deal to ease US sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry, while Venezuela would allow competitive and international monitored presidential elections next year according to the Washington Post.
• The US has been holding back-channel talks with Iranian officials to warn them against escalating the conflict in Israel according to White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
• Markets are closely watching tensions in the Middle East and any escalation in the conflict could see oil prices rise rapidly, co-founder of Energy Aspects, Amrita Sen, said in an interview.
• US oil Production at rigs in seven locations covered by the EIA’s Drilling Productivity Report will fall by 50k b/d in November to 9.553m b/d, according to the agency’s most recent Report.
• The amount of crude oil held around the world on tankers that have been stationary for at least 7 days fell by 389,000 bbl to 74.1m bbl as of 13 October, the lowest since December, Vortexa data show.
• Azerbaijan’s oil exports in the first nine months of 2023 fell 3.6% compared to the same period last year.
• The Indian government has been reluctant to allow its refineries to buy Russian oil using Chinese yuan which is holding up payments for seven cargoes at present.
• Russia and Venezuela have outlined ways to increase co-operation in energy projects and boost oil production volumes according to Russian Deputy PM Alexander Novak.
• Saudi Arabian crude exports fell by 428kbpd month on month in August to 5.58mbpd, the lowest level in 28 months. The kingdom’s crude oil production fell by 95kbpd on the month to 8.92kbpd in August, the lowest in 27 months.
• Iran’s oil exports have surged this year, primarily heading to China and shrugging off US sanctions.
• China has purchased up to 4m bbl of North Sea Forties grade crude for export in October, according to Bloomberg, as it seeks to replace supply cuts from Saudi Arabia and Russia.
• Kazakstan pipeline operator KazTransOil sent 590,000 tons of oil to Germany via the Druzhba pipeline Feb-Sep 2023.
• NIGERIA TARGETS OIL PRODUCTION OF 1.8M BARRELS PER DAY IN 2024 - bbg