Mid-Day Oil Summary: Crude Steady

Crude is holding near the previous close today after seeing a small net gain yesterday to halt the pull back seen over the last week. Crude is heading for a net loss on the week with front month Brent down about 4$/bbl from a peak of just over 88$/bbl on 10 August driven by poor economic data in China and with concern that the US rate tightening cycle may not be at an end.

• Brent OCT 23 down 0% at 84.11$/bbl
• WTI SEP 23 up 0.1% at 80.47$/bbl
• Gasoil SEP 23 up 1.4% at 913.5$/mt
• WTI-Brent down -0.01$/bbl at -4.22$/bbl
• Several major banks have revised up their crude price forecasts for this year and 2024, amid lower OPEC+ supply, lower inventories, and an upward revision in oil demand but forecasts remain below $100/bbl, at least not for a sustained period, given uncertainties about Chinese oil demand, higher non-OPEC crude supplies and economic slowdowns in the US and Europe.
• The Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will visit Baghdad and Erbil on 23 and 24 August, while Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdulghani is scheduled to travel to Ankara "early next week. Meetings could include discussions about resumption of oil flows.
• Asian refiners are looking for sour crudes to replace Kuwaiti supply as the Gulf state cuts exports by almost 20%.
• Kazakhstan plans to supply 1.2 million metric tons of oil to Germany via the Russian Druzhba pipeline in 2024. Kazakhstan is evaluating whether it is possible to redirect its crude flows from Russia’s port of Novorossiysk to the Baltic port of Ust-Luga if the situation in the Black Sea aggravates.
• The latest Baker Hughes rig count data is due for release at 13:00ET. The oil rig count data was unchanged in data last week at 525 after the strong decline seen so far this year.
• Chinese diesel exports last months rose to 910,000t, up by 153.1% on the year. Gasoline exports in July rose by 39% on the year to 1.22mn tons.
• Diesel and gasoline markets are edging higher with diesel extending the gains seen yesterday with low global inventories supporting spreads with supplies tight ahead of the winter season despite wider market demand concerns.
• US gasoline crack down -0.3$/bbl at 37.4$/bbl
• US ULSD crack up 0.7$/bbl at 50.65$/bbl