Mid-Day Oil Summary: Crude Lowest Since Early Jan

Crude markets are extending the decline from Friday to hit levels not seen since early January. The pullback is driven by very weak risk appetite and despite the increased possibility of another retaliatory Iranian attack on Israel.

• Brent OCT 24 down 1.5% at 75.66$/bbl
• WTI SEP 24 down 1.7% at 72.26$/bbl
• Crude time spreads follow the bearish move in front month futures with Dec24-Dec25 falling to the lowest since December amid market oversupply risks.
• Chevron said on Sunday it was removing non-essential staff from its Blind Faith and Petronius facilities in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of Hurricane Debby but production would not be impacted.
• Saudi Aramco has raise its official selling prices (OSPs) to Asia less than expected amid weak refining margins in Asia while prices to other regions were cut.
• Libya’s 270,000 bpd Sharara field faced a production drop of 50,000 bpd to 210,000bpd on Sunday after employees received orders to trim the southern field’s output on Saturday night according to Bloomberg sources.
• Consequently, production at the Sharara field may come to a complete halt on Monday according to Bloomberg reports.
• Global crude floating storage on tankers stationary for at least seven days fell to 56.66mn bbls as of August 2, down 31% from 82.05mn bbls on July 26 according to Vortexa.