Fresh Multi-Month Highs

WTI & Brent sit ~$0.40 above their respective settlement levels, benefitting from the broader uptick in equity markets in Asia-Pac hours, geopolitical tension surrounding Iran and spillover from the large drawdown in headline crude stocks seen in Wednesday's DoE inventory report, although the large builds on the product side of the equation tempered the post-release reaction re: the latter (the figures were roughly in line with what was seen in Tuesday's API inventory estimates, at least in directional terms, if not outright levels).

• Elsewhere, that latest RTRS OPEC survey, released Wednesday, was a little less bullish as it revealed that "OPEC oil output rose for a sixth month in December, a Reuters survey found, buoyed by further recovery in Libyan production and smaller rises elsewhere in the group… The OPEC producers bound by the (OPEC+) supply deal also boosted output in December, the survey found, which meant their compliance with agreed output cuts slipped to 99% from 102%."