Oil Summary at European Close: Crude Climbs

Crude markets have seen a steady rise throughout the afternoon session to be trading higher on the day, supported by an easing back of US dollar strength and continued geopolitical tensions.

• Brent APR 24 up 0.5% at 82.74$/bbl
• WTI APR 24 up 0.7% at 77.55$/bbl
• The UKMTO has reported an explosion and a flash in the Southern Red Sea 40NM west of Al Hudaydah, it said via X.
• Members of the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) at the Al-Zawiya refinery announced to shut the refinery and the Mellitah and Misrata oil complexes in a protest.
• Russian crude oil exports from its western ports are expected at 8.2mn tons, or 2.1mbpd, in February,
• Chinese refiners are pulling in more Russian Sokol barrels, as Indian buyers reduce intake over sanction fears and pricing according to Bloomberg.
• Crude loadings of Nigerian Escravos are set at 4 cargoes of 950,000 bbls in April according to Bloomberg, broadly flat with March’s pace. (127kbd April vs 123kbd March)
• Canadian crude discounts are expected to narrow sharply after the TMX pipeline expansion’s completion, but surging supply growth will erase the spare capacity within just a few years, Reuters said.
• Brent prices are expected to reach $88/bbl by the end of this year, supported by a nearly balanced market in 1H 2024, Deutsche Bank said in a note.
• Energy prices should rebound from their two-year slump if Western monetary policy easing occurs and OPEC+ discipline holds according to BofA.