Marginally Higher In Asia

WTI and Brent sit ~$0.30 above their respective settlement levels, even with the continued U.S. fiscal impasse and Brexit tension remaining evident.

• This comes after the metrics settled at essentially unchanged levels on Wednesday, with recent crude-specific news flow headlined by a multi-month high in terms of the latest headline DoE weekly crude inventory build, which was accompanied by larger than expected builds in both gasoline and distillate stocks. The ensuing price action was choppy, before the contracts settled at near enough unchanged levels, as mentioned above.
• Elsewhere, comments from Russian Energy Minister Novak, further comments out of Iran pointing to increased crude supply and an attack on an oilfield in Iraq's Kirkuk region did little in the grand scheme of things.