Oil Summary at European Close: Crude Falls

Crude has fallen back, reversing an initial spike in response to an unexpected fall in US crude inventories. Crude remains under pressure from an easing geopolitical risk premium associated with abating Middle East supply concerns.

• Brent JUN 24 down 0.1% at 88.33$/bbl
• WTI JUN 24 down 0.3% at 83.13$/bbl
• EIA data, week ending 4/19 - Crude oil: -6.4M, Domestic prod: 13.1MMbpd, SPR: +0.8M, Cushing: -0.6M
• ARA crude inventories fell 741k bbl or 1.3% in the week ended April 19 to 58.4m bbl according to Genscape.
• The first tanker to load crude from the expanded Canadian Trans Mountain pipeline is expected to load at the Port of Vancouver in the second half of May according to the company but shippers remain concerned over timelines.
• The CPC oil terminal operator has taken one of its three moorings offline for planned repairs it said via a statement Wednesday.
• Kazakhstan has prepared a plan to compensate for exceeding its OPEC+ production targets in 2024, according to the Ministry of Energy.
• Azerbaijan’s crude oil is becoming lighter, making it less attractive for European refineries configured for diesel production, Bloomberg said.
• Imports of Russian Urals crude to Turkey rose to a monthly record of 12.5mbbls in March from 9mbbls in February, according to LSEG data.
• China will be the main beneficiary of a recent push in US sanctions against both Iran and Venezuela, which should support deeper oil discounts according to Kpler.