Oil End of Day Summary: Crude Sees Weekly Gain

Crude markets are headed for US close trading higher with WTI also on track for a gain of around 2.9% since the start of the week. Prices remain supported by escalations in the Middle East and supply disruptions from protests at Libya’s oil fields.

• WTI FEB 24 up 2.3% at 73.85$/bbl
• Libya’s oil output has fallen to 981k b/d due to the outage at the Sharara oil field, Oil Minister Mohamed Oun said, cited by Bloomberg.
• US combined oil and gas rig count fell by one on the week to 621 rigs, according to Baker Hughes. This is the second successive on week fall.
• Chinese purchasing of Iranian oil has stalled as Tehran demands higher prices and in turn withholds shipments, which could squeeze margins for Chinese refiners, according to Reuters.
• Europe’s proportion of Russian oil exports may be no more than 8% and could fall to zero by year-end 2024, according to TASS.
• OPEC December crude oil output rose by 70kbpd on the month to 27.88mbpd according to a Reuters survey.
• Global oil demand growth is expected to remain above historical trend levels at 1.54mb/d in 2024 and 1.41mb/d in 2025 according to Standard Chartered via Bloomberg.
• Global oil and gas rig count in December fell by 55 rigs on the month to 1,739, according to Baker Hughes
• Shale producer EOG Resources expects the rate of US crude output growth at less than half of the rate in 2023 according to EOG President Billy Helms.
• Oil inventories at the Sidi Kerir storage hub on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast have fallen to a 17-month low as Houthi rebel attacks disrupt tanker traffic according to Kpler via Bloomberg.