Oil Summary at European Close: Crude Down Marginally

Crude Markets are down marginally during a volatile trading day, as disrupted Black Sea loadings and a weaker US dollar are weighed against the unconvinced market response to OPEC’s voluntary production cuts.

• Brent FEB 24 down -0.1% at 80.76$/bbl
• WTI JAN 24 down -0.1% at 75.85$/bbl
• The US energy department plans to buy 2.73mbbls of sour crude for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in January 2024.
• The latest Baker Hughes rig count data is due for release at 13:00ET.
• Banned Venezuelan opposition candidates barred from public office will be able to appear before the country's top tribunal, which will rule on their bans according to the Venezuelan government.
• Ship-to-ship transfer activities likely linked to Russia, Iran and Venezuela increased in Q3, as sanctioned producers faced stronger incentives to boost sales, according to Platts.
• India is set to restart imports of Venezuelan oil for the first time in three years, according to Bloomberg.
• Iraq crude oil exports fell by 4% on the month in November to 3.312mbpd due a decline in shipments from the Basra port.
• OPEC forecasts global oil demand will grow by 2.25mbpd in 2024, almost double the consensus from other forecasters, according to Energy Intelligence.
• OPEC+ has indicated the difficulty it is facing in coordinating further large-scale cuts according to JP morgan analysts.
• The results of Thursdays OPEC+ meeting should be enough to prevent stock builds in Q1 2024 and support Brent in the mid-$80s, Morgan Stanley analysts said.