Mid-Day Oil Summary: Crude Slips

Crude prices recouped some earlier losses but continue to trade lower today after rising to the highest since 29 Jan on Friday amid ongoing Middle Eastern tensions and Red Sea vessel attacks that outweighed demand concerns.

• Brent APR 24 down -0.3% at 83.18$/bbl
• WTI APR 24 down -0.4% at 78.17$/bbl
• Trading is likely to be thin with the US closed for a holiday although Chinese markets have reopened after the Lunar New Year holiday period.
• The downside near term crude put skew narrows again after last week falling to the most bearish since the start of the year. Despite the narrowing today, the near term bearish skews have net widened since mid Jan to cover for downside risks from global demand concerns and a potential supply surplus.
• The UKMTO has received a report of an incident 100NM eats of Aden, Yemen, on Monday 09:55UTC, reporting an explosion in close proximity to the vessel, it said via X.
• Houthi rebels struck the Belize-flagged Rubymar in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Sunday, forcing the crew to abandon the ship according to authorities on Monday.
• Iraq will improve its compliance with OPEC+ output cuts after reviewing estimates of its production, Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani said in an interview cited by Bloomberg.
• The amount of crude oil held around the world on tankers that have been stationary for at least seven days fell by 19% last week to 73.18m bbl as of 16 February, the lowest since 1 December, Vortexa data show.
• South Korean crude oil imports rose by 8.6% on the year to 88.63mn barrels, or 2.86mbpd, in January, Korea Customs Service data showed, supported by expected better refinery margins according to market sources.
• Chinese Travel demand during the Lunar New Year holiday exceeded pre-pandemic levels, adding to signs that consumption in China is improving, according to Bloomberg.
• Diesel cracks spreads and time spread continue to ease lower today after pulling back last week reversing the gains seen in early February.
• European gasoline remains “overall bearish” with “persistent length” and “inevitable export constraints” eventually limiting upside to regional cracks according to Kpler last week.
• Exxon Mobil shut the 83kbpd CDU at the 270kbpd Port Jerome refinery in France on 16 February, according to a WoodMackenzie alert.
• Russia’s USt-Luga condensate processing facility partially restarted between February 8-14 according to Bloomberg sources.
  • US gasoline crack down -0.1$/bbl at 18.38$/bbl
  • US ULSD crack down -1.2$/bbl at 37.58$/bbl