Oil End of Day Summary: Crude Ticks Up

Crude markets are approaching US close trading higher, despite an above-expectation crude stock build. Support is coming from rising product demand, while comments from Israel’s PM appearing to reject a ceasefire deal or a pause in the fighting in Gaza will maintain the geopolitical risk premium.

• WTI MAR 24 up 0.6% at 73.78$/bbl
• Crude inventories in ARA region rose 1.7m bbl last week to 46.6m bbl as of 2 February, Genscape data show.
• EIA Weekly US Petroleum Summary - w/w change week ending Feb 02: Crude stocks +5,520 vs Exp +1,515, Crude production +300, SPR stocks +615, Cushing stocks -33
• Total Energies has been avoiding Red Sea passages as a result of Houthi attacks for several weeks its CEO Patrick Pouyanne said Wednesday.
• An Exxon led consortium, responsible for all of Guyana’s crude extraction, is producing around 645,000 bpd at present, up from 400,000 bpd in late-2023.
• China crude imports slipped to 9.8mn bpd in January according to Vortexa – marking the third consecutive month below 10mn bpd.
• OPEC+ looks set to be forced to extend its output cuts into Q2 if it wants to keep prices near $80/b, according to Bloomberg’s Energy Daily.
• The G7 are working to force Russian oil volumes away from the shadow fleet and back onto western service providers.
• Iran is planning to sign six contracts for the development of eight new oil and gas projects adding 390kbpd of new capacity.
• The Panama Canal does not see a need for further vessel transit restrictions until at least April, according to Reuters.
• - MNI Commodity Weekly: Rising Americas’ Oil Output Poses Challenge For OPEC. Full piece here: https://enews.marketnews.com/ct/x/pjJscQTZlO4I6a9hJkh3HQ~k1zZ8KXr-kA8x6nDC5WmptIPjO1OcQ