Mid-Day Oil Summary: Crude Reverses Earlier Spike

Crude prices are easing back after an earlier spike due driven by a fall in the USD. A continued shedding of the Middle East supply risk premium is now countering support from a slightly softer greenback.

• Brent JUN 24 down 0.4% at 86.61$/bbl
• WTI JUN 24 down 0.5% at 81.46$/bbl
• WTI-Brent down 0.09$/bbl at -5.14$/bbl
• Brent JUN 24-JUL 24 down 0.03$/bbl at 0.9$/bbl
• The US extended sanctions on Iran’s oil sector to include foreign ports, vessels and refineries that knowingly process or ship Iranian crude but analysts don’t expect the new measures to have a material impact on Iran’s crude exports, according to Bloomberg.
• Limited impact is expected on Iran’s oil exports from new US legislation according to FGE.
• Approved US aid for Ukraine may help to stop its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure according to RBC’s Head of Commodity Research Helima Croft.
• Asia has lost 920kbd of medium/heavy sour barrels in Q1 2024 y/y with more volumes at risk according to Vortexa.
• The oil market is going through a consolidation period but is genuinely tight and the chances of oil prices rising above $100/bbl are “extraordinarily high,” analyst Jeff Currie said to Bloomberg.