Mid-Day Oil Summary: Crude Rises

Crude markets are holding onto gains today amid tighter supplies after the extension of OPEC+ supply cuts. A weaker US Dollar ahead of the Fed Chair Powell’s testimony today, ongoing Red Sea vessel attacks and renewed attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure are adding to the upside, while macro concerns in the US and China persist.

• Brent MAY 24 up 0.7% at 82.65$/bbl
• WTI APR 24 up 1% at 78.96$/bbl
• API weekly oil stock data: Crude +0.4mbbl, Cushing +0.5mbbl. Gasoline -2.8mbbl, Distillate -1.8mbbl
• Crude inventories in the ARA region rose by 1.947mbbl to 51.44mbbl in the week to March 1 according to the latest Genscape data.
• A Ukrainian drone attack set fire to an iron ore facility in Russia’s Kursk region on Wednesday according to the Moscow Times, citing regional authorities. This was after attacks on Russia’s Belgorod and Voronezh regions earlier in the day.
• Saudi Arabia raised the official selling price for Arab Light crude for Asia in April to $1.70/bbl above the Oman/Dubai average, up by 20ct/bbl from last month, slightly above market expectations.
• The UKMTO has received a report of an incident 54NM southwest of Aden, Yemen, which authorities are currently investigating, it said via X.
• India is expected to maintain crude imports from Russia between 1 to 1.4mb/d this year according to Pankaj Jain, Secretary of the Indian Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas via TASS.
• Several oil tankers used by Russia have stopped sailing under the Liberian and Marshall Islands flags in recent weeks after, the US ramped up sanctions enforcement on ships linked to those registries according to Reuters.
• China’s state-owned refineries plan to raise throughput by 11.14% on the month in March to 43.81m mt, according to OilChem.
• Russian diesel-type shipments from the Baltic port of Primorsk fell in February to 1.8m tons from the high seasonal levels seen last month according to Bloomberg based on port report and ship tracking data.
• Oil products stockpiles at the Port of Fujairah edged up by 0.4% on the week to 18.806mn barrels as of 4 March according to the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone.
• Gasoline and diesel crack spreads drifted lower yesterday as near-term weak demand and signs of refinery ramp-ups following maintenance have weighed on margins.
  • US gasoline crack down -0.4$/bbl at 27.84$/bbl
  • US ULSD crack down -0.9$/bbl at 30.17$/bbl