OIL: Oil Summary at European Close: Crude Plummets

Brent crude fell through $70/bbl for the first time since December. The move is an extension of the bearish theme, amid market concerns of weak US and China demand. The market has also shrugged off OPEC+’s two-month production hike delay.

• Brent NOV 24 down 3.4% at 69.39$/bbl
• WTI OCT 24 down 3.8% at 66.07$/bbl
• OPEC lowered its demand growth to 2.0m b/d for 2024, down 80k b/d compared to last month’s assessment, according to their August Monthly Oil Market Report.
• Tropical storm Francine is expected to become a hurricane soon the National Hurricane Center said in a recent update.
• Tropical Storm Francine is being monitored with an estimated 125kbd of crude output in its path, according to Bloomberg calculations from US data.
• Francine could impact 9 major oil and gas platforms and 12 Gulf coast refineries. It is expected to make landfall on Wednesday in Louisiana as a category 2 hurricane.
• Enbridge has evacuated employees from several offshore U.S. Gulf of Mexico platforms ahead of the arrival of Tropical Storm Francine, according to Reuters.
• Four-week average crude volumes slipped to 3.13m b/d in the week, down by 30k b/d, Bloomberg said.
• Russia’s Urals oil prices fell below the G7 price cap of $60/b Sep. 10, Reuters said.
• China August crude import volumes were down 7% y/y but increased 16% on the month to 49.1m tons.
• Geopolitical issues no longer sharply influence oil prices and trade flows in Asia, industry participants said at Platts APPEC conference.
• Azerbaijan pumped 13.9m mt of crude and condensate in Jan-Aug 2024, Bloomberg said.