OIL: Oil End of Day Summary: Crude Climbs on Libya FM

Crude has gained further ground today, supported by the announcement of a force majeure at the El-Feel field. However, the front month remains well within the three-day trading range.

• WTI OCT 24 up 0.7% at 74.05$/bbl
• Libya’s NOC declared a force majeure on key oil field El-Feel amid a widening shutdown of production, Bloomberg said.
• Libya's Sarir, Messla and Nafoura oilfields received instructions to resume production according to Reuters sources on Saturday.
• Oil exports at major Libyan ports were halted Sep. 2 with production curtailed across the country, six engineers told Reuters.
• OPEC output fell to 26.36m b/d in August, down 340k b/d on the month and its lowest since January according to a Reuters survey.
• US fuel demand during the first half of the summer was also softer than weekly data showed, according to revisions by the EIA.
• Spot crude price corrections driven by OPEC+ unwinding may be dampened in the short to medium term due to a potential halt in Libyan supplies, Argus said.
• European sour crudes could face pressure if OPEC+ unwinds its voluntary output cuts as planned, Argus said. However, a halt to Libyan exports might temper the effect.
• Russia complied with its OPEC+ oil quotas, according to data for the end of August, Deputy PM Alexander Novak said, cited by Interfax.
• Crude in floating storage globally - stationary for at least 7 days - fell to the lowest since January 2020 at 52.99mbbls as of August 30 according to Vortexa cited by Bloomberg.
• August Crude Export Stats from Bloomberg: Iraq – 3.51m b/d (Likely exceeding OPEC quotas), Iran – 1.47m b/d, CPC – 1.27m b/d (lowest since November), Russia’s Arctic Ports 280k b/d (down from 350k b/d in July), Russia’s Pacific Coast – 1.148m b/d (Highest since April), WAF – 3.71m b/d.