Oil Summary at European Close: Crude Rising on Week

Front month Brent is trading up around 3.7% on the week with support from tighter crude balance expectations over the summer. EIA data yesterday showed signs of improving demand and a decline in US fuel stocks.

• Brent AUG 24 down 0.1% at 85.63$/bbl
• WTI AUG 24 down 0.2% at 81.16$/bbl
• EIA data yesterday showed US crude stocks drew in line with expectation with a correction of the large swings in imports and exports seen last week while refinery utilisation saw an unexpected decline back to 93.5%.
• Brent crude implied volatility is holding near the lowest since 2019 as futures prices steady following the rally seen in the first half of June.
• Saudi Arabia’s fiscal breakeven oil price is set to reach nearly $95/bbl in 2024, according to BofA.
• Oil faces bullish pressures with seasonal tightness over the peak summer season, according to Citigroup.
• Indian refiners’ throughput in May rose 1.3% year-on-year to 5.44m b/d, or 23.03m mt, government data showed, cited by Reuters.
• The share of Russian oil in India’s oil imports in May rose to 41%, tanker data showed, cited by Reuters. Refiners in India imported 2.1m b/d of Russian oil in May, up 14.7% from April.
• Nigeria plans to export five cargoes of Qua Iboe crude in August, each of 950k bbl, according to Bloomberg.
• Sonangol allocated seven cargoes for August loading to Sinochem, traders told Bloomberg.
• Kpler data shows at least ten Suezmax tankers and one VLCC have loaded clean petroleum product so far this year after cleaning to carry different types of oil cargo, said Svetlana Lobaciova, at Gibson Shipbrokers cited by Bloomberg.