Mid-Day Oil Summary: Crude Extends Pull Back

Crude futures and time spreads continue to pull back with a reducing Middle East risk premium amid significant uncertainty over Israel’s response to Iran’s attack last weekend. Israel is unlikely to carry out a strike on Iran until after Passover, starting 29 April, according to ABC citing a senior US official.

• Brent JUN 24 down 1.2% at 86.23$/bbl
• WTI MAY 24 down 1.2% at 81.71$/bbl
• The Biden administration said it will not renew the Venezuelan sanctions waiver set to expire Thursday that had eased its ability to export oil to wider markets – namely the U.S.
• Global oil demand so far in April averaged 101mbpd, tracking a 1.46mbpd year on year increase, JP Morgan said in a note.
• Kazakhstan, the largest Central Asian oil producer, halted production at 493 oil wells due to flooding, most in the Aktobe region, Bloomberg said.
• Chinese crude oil imports in March rose to 49.050mn tons, up from 44.140mn tons in February but down by 6.2% year on year, Customs General Administration data showed.
• Russian seaborne oil product exports averaged 1.81mbpd in the week ending 14 April, down by 560kbpd from the same period a month earlier, S&P tanker tracking data showed.
• Russian diesel exports averaged 0.74mbpd in the ten days until 13 April, down by around 23% from the 2019-2023 average, Kpler data showed.
• China’s oil products surplus is expected to widen to 52mn tons by 2025, from 47mn tons this year, CNPC’s researcher Li Ran said, cited by Bloomberg.
• China's jet fuel exports in March were 77.4% higher year on year at 1.98m metric tons according to General Administration of Customs data as international flight volumes ramped up.
• Chinese diesel exports were at a one-year high last month as a weak domestic market pushed higher volumes overseas.
• Chinese gasoline output in March increased by 6.5% year on year to 14.29mn tons, data from China’s statistics bureau showed, cited by Bloomberg.
• As Northeast Asia’s refinery maintenance ramps up this quarter, the regions implied refinery runs are expected to fall according to Vortexa.
• Singapore fuel oil stocks have risen to an 8-week high on higher imports according to Enterprise Singapore figures on Thursday.
• Bothe US gasoline and diesel cracks are extending yesterday’s pullback after the EIA four week average implied demand showed declines on the week. Gasoline demand however remains above the previous five year average while distillates demand is below the previous five year range.
  • US gasoline crack down 0.4$/bbl at 31.55$/bbl
  • US ULSD crack down 0.8$/bbl at 24.59$/bbl