Mid-Day Oil Summary: Crude Holds Onto Gains

Crude is holding onto earlier gains but remains within yesterday’s range, supported by a weaker US dollar and the latest attack by Iranian military on an oil tanker carrying Iraqi crude oil to Turkey.

• Brent MAR 24 up 1.9% at 78.23$/bbl
• WTI FEB 24 up 1.9% at 72.76$/bbl
• Iranians have boarded the St Nikolas oil tanker today in the Gulf of Oman. The tanker was formerly known as Suez Rajan and had been seized by the US government for having transported 1mn barrels of Iranian oil in connection to a US company according to Tanker Trackers via X. The hijacked oil tanker has changed course toward Iranian waters, the UK Navy reported. The tanker was initially transporting Iraqi crude oil to Turkey.
• The crucial Red Sea shipping route could take months to open according to Maersk’s chief executive Vincent Clerc speaking with the FT.
• The US CPI data due at 08:30 ET with consensus for core CPI inflation at 0.3% m/m in December, with risk seen to the downside.
• Global oil demand will grow by 2mbpd year on year in 2024 to reach 103.5mbpd, WoodMac said in a note.
• Market interest in downside crude out options increased yesterday with put volumes 5k more than calls and the highest since Dec 8 and futures volumes recover from a drop during the holiday period.
• Saudi Aramco will supply slightly less term crude oil supply for Feb sales compared to last month according to Bloomberg sources.
• Iraqi crude exports fell in 2023 as federal government attempts to boost exports out of the south failed to compensate for lost flows on the northern pipeline via Turkey.
• Ecuador’s oil and gas sector was operating normally on Wednesday despite a large uptick in violence in the country this week the energy ministry said.
• Exxon’s Fos refinery is restarting a compressor in a community alert out Thursday.
• Diesel and gasoline are up on the day driven by a recovery in weekly implied demand in yesterday’s EIA data, despite higher than expected stock builds. Crack spreads have seen a steady rally this week amid rising US refinery outages and risks from severe cold in the US.
  • US gasoline crack up 0.5$/bbl at 16.2$/bbl
  • US ULSD crack up 1.1$/bbl at 39.21$/bbl