Mid-Day Oil Summary: Crude Extends Losses

Crude markets continue to ease lower with focus on future US interest rates ahead of US payrolls data tomorrow and with a lack of confidence in China’s economic growth to offset the ongoing Middle East tensions.

• Brent MAY 24 down -0.9% at 82.19$/bbl
• WTI APR 24 down -0.9% at 78.4$/bbl
• Chinese crude oil imports in January and February increased by 5.1% on the year to 88.31mn tons, or 10.74mbpd, General Administration of Customs data showed, supported by strong demand for travelling during the Lunar New Year Holiday.
• Chinese crude oil tanker bookings from the Persian Gulf have increase in recent days according to Bloomberg.
• OPEC+ are likely to signal a gradual phase out of production cuts at its next meeting in June, MUFG Research’s Ehsan Khoman and Ramya RS said via Dow Jones.
• The US DOE announced a solicitation to purchase around 3mn barrels of oil for the SPR in September, it said in a statement.
• Kuwait Petroleum Corp is swapping cargoes with suppliers in order to avoid sailing via the Red Sea, KPC’s CEO Sheikh Nawaf Al-Sabah said, cited by Bloomberg.
• ExxonMobil has started an arbitration process regarding its rights over Hess's Guyana oil and gas assets according to a spokesperson.
• G7-linked tankers, particularly Greek operators, shipped 1.1mbpd, or 33% of the total Russian seaborne crude exports in February, up from 1mbpd in January amid strong freight rates.
• India's fuel demand rose 5.7% y/y in February according to the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell amid strong factory activity expanding at its fastest pace in five months.
• Global oil demand increased by 1.5mbpd on the month in February, JP Morgan said in a note.
• Imports of feedstocks into independent refineries in Shandong province and Tianjin city rose by 30% on the month to 10.02m mt in Feb, OilChem said.
• TotalEnergies is restarting several units at the 219kbpd Donges refinery in France as of 7 March, the firm said in a statement.
• Diesel cracks rose strongly yesterday to recover some losses form earlier in the week after EIA weekly oil data showed a larger than expected decline in US stocks and an increase in implied demand. Gasoline cracks also edged higher after the large gasoline inventory draw suggested robust demand as refiners try to ramp up ahead of the summer driving season.
• The updated Insights Global European ARA product inventories will be released today around 15:15GMT.
  • US gasoline crack up 0.4$/bbl at 28.25$/bbl
  • US ULSD crack up 0.1$/bbl at 32.67$/bbl