Oil Summary at European Close: Crude Rebounds

Crude has jumped during afternoon trading, erasing earlier losses, as the market maintains its geopolitical risk premium following a near-miss attack by the Houthis on a US flagged oil tanker, the Tom Thoro over the weekend. Capping upside are strong non-OPEC supply and a weak US and Chinese demand picture.

• Brent APR 24 up 0.7% at 82.18$/bbl
• WTI APR 24 up 0.9% at 77.19$/bbl
• Venezuela’s reversal in its rapprochement with the US – which had brought sanctions relief on the oil industry– is driven by faltering domestic support for Maduro, Reuters said.
• The US flagged, owned and operated oil/chemical tanker M/V Torm Thor was targeted by the Houthi's on February 24 at 11:45pm (Sannaa time).
• Libya’s ~45kbd Wafa field has resumed shipments following a short halt on Sunday after staff demanded better pay according to a Bloomberg source.
• Iraqi crude flows towards Europe are being impacted by Red Sea disruptions according to Vortexa.
• Crude floating storage, stationary for at least seven days, fell to 66.43m bbl as of February 23 - down 7.5% from 71.78m bbl on February 16 according to Vortexa.
• Strong travel in China over the Lunar New Year holiday has driven an increase in demand supporting crude purchases by refiners ahead of expected maintenance during Q2.
• The addition of WTI Midland crude into the Brent benchmark has gone well, according to comments from Platts at the London Energy Forum, cited by Reuters.
• Canadian oil discounts versus US WTI is expected to shrink when the new Trans Mountain Pipeline comes along according to Energy Aspects.
• North Sea Forties crude production will be 178.8kbd in June, down from 218.5kbd in May according to Ineos.