Oil End of Day Summary: Crude Jumps on Middle East Tension

Crude has continued surging on the day amid headlines implying further escalation in the Israel-Hamas conflict. WTI has risen to new intraday highs, although remains below yesterday’s intraday peak.

• WTI DEC 23 up 2.9% at 82.74$/bbl
• WTI DEC 23-JAN 24 up 0.02$/bbl at 0.36$/bbl
• Israel says it is fighting ‘face-to-face battles’ with Hamas as its troops move deeper into Gaza according to NYT. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal has reported that the Russian paramilitary Wagner Group may provide an air defence system to the Iranian-backed Lebanon-based Hezbollah.
• The New York Times also reported that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is to press Israel for pauses in war against Hamas.
• Global demand is still uncertain with concern for the economic recovery in China after disappointing PMI data this week as focus switches to the US payrolls data due on Friday.
• Europe has sought higher crude imports from the US and Latin America as its crude stockpiles lag according to Vortexa who placed the regions crude stocks at their lowest level in four years at about 455mn bbls 30 October.
• North Sea Crude Loadings in December are set to hit a more than two-year high, helping to boost non-OPEC+ oil supplies to the market, according to Bloomberg.
• Alberta’s oil production fell in September to the lowest since June amid a fall in synthetic crude due to upgrader maintenance according to Alberta Energy Regulator data.
• Crude oil production from the Neutral Zone shared by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait rebounded to 264kbpd in October, the highest level so far this year, after the restart of the Khafji oil field according to S&P Commodity Insights.
• Kazakhstan is ready to increase crude volumes to France according to its President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev this week.
• Venezuelan crude and fuel exports fell to less than 700,000 bpd in October due to production issues and a lack of diluents to make the crude grades exportable.
• China’s PetroChina is hoping to resume Venezuelan oil imports after a four-year pause and is proposing a deal with Venezuela’s PDVSA, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
• The US has further delayed its auction for offshore drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico as it awaits the outcome of a legal proceeding, according to Reuters.
• MNI COMMODITY ANALYSIS: Chinese Refiners Depend on Sanctioned Barrels as Margins Tighten - Full piece here: https://enews.marketnews.com/ct/x/pjJscQOPkeoI6agzdR1zHg~k1zZ8KXr-kA8x6nEXZCiptIPjO1OcQ