​Oil End of Day Summary: Crude Rises in US Hours​

Crude prices made gains during US hours, with WTI up around 6.3% on the week and retuning to levels last seen in late-January. WTI continues to find support from diminishing hope of any near-term ceasefire deal in Gaza.

• WTI MAR 24 up 0.8% at 76.84$/bbl
• The Wall St Journal is reporting that Venezuela has moved military hardware to its border with Guyana as a row over a disputed, oil-rich province escalates.
• US oil rigs were unchanged on the week at 499, according to Baker Hughes.
• Oil output from the Permian basin in West Texas and New Mexico is set to reach a fresh record this year: US pipeline operator Plains said.
• OPEC+ members bound to production targets overshot by 350k b/d, taking total output to 34.67m b/d, according to Argus estimates.
• OPEC-10 pumped above its pledged quota by 340k b/d for 1Q 2024 according to a Platts survey.
• Saudi Aramco will supply more term crude oil for March sales to buyers in China compared to Feb.
• Nigerian crude differentials ticked up Feb. 9 as grades were competitive against US and European grades, traders said told Reuters cited by XM.
• Total global crude/condensate exports (excluding Iran/Venezuela) slipped by 700kbd in January m/m according to Vortexa, reversing December’s brief uptick.
• The global trend in global crude inventories shows significant drawing is still taking place in the early part of 2024 according to Vortexa.
• The proportional excess of supertankers in the Middle East compared with crude cargoes in the next 30 days fell to 27% Feb. 9.