OIL: Mid-Day Oil Summary: Crude Heads for Weekly Gain

Crude is headed for a small net weekly gain, recovering from a Brent low of $68.68/bbl, as the bearish trend in place since Aug 26 has stalled.  Prices have been supported by output disruptions in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico as Hurricane Francine passes and with risk on sentiment ahead of expected Fed rate cuts.

• Brent NOV 24 up 0.9% at 72.64$/bbl
• WTI OCT 24 up 1.1% at 69.73$/bbl
• The IEA forecasts this year's global demand to grow by 903kbpd from 970kbpd in its prior report – the second downward revision in 2 months. Rapidly slowing Chinese consumption is the key driver of lower global oil demand growth.
• Libya’s crude exports continued to slump as UN-led talks failed to break an impasse over control of the country’s central bank, Bloomberg said.
• Combined crude oil and condensates output from Nigeria edged up to 1.57mb/d in August compared to 1.53mb/d in July, according to data from the upstream petroleum regulatory commission.
• Sharp declines in North Sea and WAF crude premiums signal pressure ahead for the physical crude market, according to Sparta Commodities.
• Diesel and gasoline crack spreads remain weak with the US diesel crack yesterday falling to a new recent low of $19.65/bbl. EIA showed declines in both gasoline and distillate demand again this week while oil refineries in Louisiana in the path of Hurricane Francine began recovering, Reuters sources said.
• US gasoline crack up 0.2$/bbl at 12.31$/bbl
• US ULSD crack down 0.4$/bbl at 19.66$/bbl
• Six oil refineries in Louisiana began recovering after Hurricane Francine passed, Reuters sources said, but multiple facilities were operating at reduced rates, according to EIA late yesterday