Oil Summary at European Close: Crude Jumps

Crude markets have jumped during the session, boosted by tension in the Middle East, outages in Libya, and the US’ announcement to buy 3m bbl of crude for the SPR.

• Brent MAR 24 up 2.8% at 77.98$/bbl
• WTI FEB 24 up 2.9% at 72.45$/bbl
• US gasoline crack up 0.5$/bbl at 17.99$/bbl
• US ULSD crack up 1.5$/bbl at 37.26$/bbl
• A terrorist attack near the grave site of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in the central Iranian city of Kerman had added to tensions in the Middle East.
• The Houthi rebels have fired three missiles a Malta-flagged boxship near its port quarter, according to reports from security firm Ambrey, which is likely the CMA CGM Tage, ship tracking data showed.
• Libya oil protests are forcing the partial reduction in production at Libya’s 300k b/d Sharara oil field, according to two engineers cited by Reuters.
• The US is seeking up to 3 bbl of sour crude for the strategic petroleum reserve, according to a notice by the US Department of Energy.
• US SPR crude oil inventories rose by around 1.1mbpd last week to 354.4mn barrels as of 29 December, DOE data showed.
• India is currently buying around 1.5mbpd of crude oil from Russia and has not faced any issues related to payments, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said.
• Saudi Aramco may cut the OSP for its flagship Arab Light crude for Asian customers by around $1.70/bbl over the Oman/Dubai crude quotes in February from the previous month, according to five refining sources surveyed by Reuters.
• Crude inventories in the ARA region were unchanged in week ending 29 December at 54.1m bbl, Genscape data show.
• MNI COMMODITY WEEKLY: Middle East Geopolitical Threat Persists for Oil Markets – Full piece here: https://enews.marketnews.com/ct/x/pjJscQWAwegI6a9kdxF1Hg~k1zZ8KXr-kA8x6nCUsCgptIPjO1OcQ