Oil Summary at European Close: Crude Under Pressure

Crude futures have reversed their earlier gains, although have received newfound support from falling output in North Dakota. A stronger dollar and wider economic concerns offset Middle East risks to supplies.

• Brent MAR 24 up 0.1% at 78.26$/bbl
• WTI FEB 24 down -0.5% at 72.35$/bbl
• Crude near term options volatilities are showing the smallest downside put skew since early November amid Middle East escalation risks and Red Sea shipping disruption.
• Wires carrying comments from Reuters reporting that according to unnamed US officials, the US military has on Tuesday carried out a new strike on Houthi anti-ship missiles in Yemen.
• Large numbers of merchant ships continue to transit the Bab el-Mandeb strait despite the potential threat of Houthi attacks and warnings to avoid the area.
• Shell suspended all shipments via the Red Sea route indefinitely, following Houthi rebel attacks on US and UK-owned vessels, people familiar with the decision told Wallstreet Journal.
• Chevron has not made “fundamental changes” to the way it moves vessels over the last few weeks regarding the Red Sea security issue according to its CEO Mike Wirth speaking to Bloomberg in Davos Tuesday.
• The price cap on Russian oil have led to crude delivery issues at Indian ports according to its Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri at Davos Tuesday.
• Angola plans to export 1.05m b/d of crude in March, according to a preliminary loading schedule.
• Russia’s seaborne crude shipments have risen on the week, despite disruption with shipping in the Red Sea, according to Bloomberg.