Oil Summary at European Close: Oil Retreats

Crude markets have retreated today amid ongoing oil demand concerns and a slightly stronger dollar. Dated Brent is set for weekly losses of around 1.5%.

• Brent APR 24 down -1.8% at 82.18$/bbl
• WTI APR 24 down -1.9% at 77.09$/bbl
• The US will today unveil details of a new Russia sanctions package to mark the two-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and punish Moscow for the death of opposition figure Alexei Navalny.
• The outlook for crude prices is dampened by China’s economy according to a note from RBC via Bloomberg.
• Global oil demand has been rising 1.7mbpd on the month through 21 February, supported by Chinese travel demand amid the Lunar New year Holiday, JP Morgan said in a note.
• The Federal Supreme Court of Iraq has ordered the KRG to hand over all oil and non-oil revenues to the federal government in a ruling on 21 February, according to S&P Commodity Insights, which is likely another roadblock in the restart of northern Iraqi exports via the pipeline to Turkey.
• CDU capacity utilisation at China’s independent refineries averaged 65.5% in 2024 to date, up 2.58 percentage points on the year, according to OilChem.
• Crude oil inventory rates at Shandong’s independent refineries were largely stable in the seven days to Feb. 23, according to OilChem.
• Europe’s crude imports from Iraq are set to remain flat m-o-m in February at just 500kbd and nearly 400kbd below the 2023 average according to Vortexa.