Mid-Day Oil Summary: Crude Extends Declines

Crude extends the decline from yesterday following the much larger than expected US crude inventory build in the weekly EIA data driven by a further drop in refinery runs and softer product demand. IEA forecasts a larger oil market supply surplus this year amid non-OPEC+ supply growth.

• Brent APR 24 down -0.7% at 81.01$/bbl
• WTI MAR 24 down -0.8% at 76.04$/bbl
• US CENTCOM has posted on X a message confirming that a US Coastguard ship intercepted a vessel in the Arabian Sea that it claims was carrying "advanced conventional weapons and other lethal aid originating in Iran and bound to Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen".
• Global oil demand growth is forecast to rise by 1.2mbpd, unchanged from last month’s report, according to the IEA Monthly Oil Market Report.
• The volume of crude oil in floating storage increased to the highest since Oct. 22 at about 56mbbls on Feb. 13, according to Kpler.
• A Ukrainian drone attack hit an oil storage depot in Russia’s Kursk region, which resulted in a fire Governor Roman Starovoyt said via Telegram.
• Russia's January seaborne oil product exports fell to 10.792 million metric tons in January down 2% m/m and 8.6% y/y due to lower processing and unplanned repair work according to Reuters sources.
• Works at the 29kbpd FCC at TotalEnergies’ Feyzin refinery in France will cause flaring on Thursday, according to a report by Le Progres citing a statement from the company.
• A fire at ExxonMobil’s Rotterdam refinery is under control according to the company’s official X account.
• China’s traffic levels have fallen 70.8% in the week to Feb. 14, as the nation celebrates the Lunar New Year holiday, according to BNEF.
• The growth in global oil refining capacity in 2024 will be led by the Middle East, China and Africa according to the IEA Oil Monthly Report.
• Singapore’s middle distillate stocks climbed to a three-month high in the week to Feb. 14, reversing the general downward trajectory over the past two-months, according to Reuters.
• BP’s Whiting, Indiana, refinery will take at least until the end of February to restore normal operations after the power loss on 1 February, people familiar with operations told Bloomberg.
• Gasoline and diesel cracks spreads also fell yesterday after a drop in US implied demand. Gasoline four week implied demand showed a counter seasonal fall after the gains seen the previous week. Weekly distillates demand fell to keep the four week average below the previous five year range for the time of year.
  • US gasoline crack down -0.9$/bbl at 19.58$/bbl
  • US ULSD crack down -0.5$/bbl at 40.57$/bbl