Mid-Day Oil Summary: Crude Rises

Crude markets have regained ground following renewed Houthi rebel attacks in the Red Sea.

• Brent APR 24 up 0.7% at 78.53$/bbl
• WTI MAR 24 up 0.6% at 73.23$/bbl
• Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed two separate vessel attacks Tuesday as they targeted US and British vessels. One of the attacks has been confirmed by security firm Ambrey.
• Saudi Arabia needs oil prices to average at least $90/bbl for it to balance its 2024 budget, according to Fitch Ratings, boosting the chance that its output cuts will be extended into Q2.
• Indian refinery Nayara Energy is scheduled to receive a Sokol grade shipment this week, a company source told Reuters during India Energy Week.
• Bharat Petroleum Corp is hoping to buy more crude from Russia and is keen to sign a term supply contract, an official said, cited by Bloomberg.
• Kazakhstan’s crude production edged up 0.5% in January m/m to 6.7 million metric tons according to Reuters sources.
• While Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro is betting that the US will not revive all its sanctions amid backsliding on free elections, local operators remain concerned, according to Bloomberg.
• Brazil’s Petrobras intends to expand its refining capacity by 25% over the next four years according to its CEO Jean Paul Prates at the India Energy Week event in Goa.
• Russia’s seaborne crude exports rebounded strongly following two weeks of disruptions, according to Bloomberg.
• Russian diesel-type shipments from the Baltic port of Primorsk increased in January to the highest on a seasonal basis since at least 2017 at 2.05m tons according to Bloomberg based on port report and ship tracking data.
• Russian oil refinery processing rates dropped 1.4% in January m/m due to the drone attacks and outages. Processing rates are down by 4% from a year ago according to Kommersant.
• US gasoline demand jumped 4.6% last week from the prior week and was 4.0% above the average of the last four weeks according to GasBuddy data.
• Only one main unit remains offline at TotalEnergies 238,000 bpd Port Arthur, Texas refinery on Sunday according to Reuters sources.
• BP is continuing the assessment of the 435kbpd Whiting, Indiana, refinery on Monday following the power outage on 1 February, after which the firm will develop plans and schedules for restarting the refinery, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
• Operations at Chevrons 245,271 bpd refinery in Richmond, California were normal Monday as high wind and rain hit the West Coast according to Reuters sources.
  • US gasoline crack up 0.1$/bbl at 20.12$/bbl
  • US ULSD crack up 0.3$/bbl at 42.07$/bbl