Oil End of Day Summary: Crude Falls as USD Recovers

Crude markets are headed for US close trading lower, amid a strong recovery in the greenback thanks to Dovish European central banks and stronger-than-expected US data.

• WTI MAY 24 down 0.2% at 81.08$/bbl
• The next few weeks will be crucial to finding out the start date of Canada's TMX Pipeline according to Trans Mountain’s Chief Financial and Strategy Officer Mark Maki.
• Two people close to the Venezuela’s opposition candidate Maria Corina Machado were arrested this week, further complicating a narrowing chance of US energy sanctions being extended from April.
• PetroChina's Guangdong Petrochemical complex in the southern Guangdong province will receive its first Venezuelan Merey crude cargo around 23 March
• Two US senators have introduced legislation March 21 that would harden the ban on selling crude oil from the SPR to China, according to Reuters.
• Growing markets in the East will be able to “absorb” Russian oil supply as it relies on those markets as an outlet longer term according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
• Angola is producing around 1.1mn bpd of crude at present – similar to its levels before leaving the OPEC alliance.
• Crude Exports from three major Russian ports on the Baltic and Black Sea look set to increase to 2.03m b/d in March, according to Bloomberg.
• Libyan crude oil production reached 1.241mbpd in the past 24 hours, while condensate output reached 46kbpd, NOC said via X.
• Crude storage utilisation rates at independent refineries in China’s Shandong province are set to be 43.5% on March 22, down 0.1 percentage points on the week, according to OilChem.