Oil Summary at European Close: Crude Trading Lowerp

Crude markets are trading lower on the day in a volatile trading session with Brent front month ranging between $77.52/bbl and $79.72/bbl. A higher US Dollar and stronger than expected non-OPEC supplies have been weighing on prices to offset OPEC production cuts.

• Brent FEB 24 down -0.2% at 78.7$/bbl
• WTI JAN 24 down -0.4% at 73.77$/bbl
• Speaking to Bloomberg TV, David Turk, US Department of Energy Deputy Secretary said “We will buy as much as we possibly can, but there are some physical constrains given the way the caverns are set up.”
• US crude exports rebounded in November helped by higher flows to China and increased demand from Canada post refinery maintenance.
• Oil loadings from Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiisk resumed after a storm on Dec. 3 according to Reuters sources early Monday.
• Crude oil processing at Russian refineries fell 233kbpd in the week to Nov 29 from the previous week to 5.41mbpd, according to a Bloomberg source.
• China’s throughput of crude oil into its refineries was 62.52m mt in November, according to OilChem, down 5.38m mt, or 7.92%, from October’s total.
• Iran’s observed crude and condensate exports slipped to 1.15mn bpd in November from 1.33mn bpd in October according to Bloomberg vessel tracking – cross checked against Kpler levels.
• Kazakhstan’s daily oil and gas condensate output rose to 230.5k tons on 3 December according to energy ministry data.
• Crude oil held on tankers that has been stationary for at least seven days fell by 24% to 68.62m bbl as of 1 December, Vortexa data show, cited by Bloomberg.