Oil Summary End of Day Summary: Crude Can’t Shake off Volatility

Crude front month is near rangebound at US close after oscillating during a volatile session. The market struggles for clear direction amid a lack of confidence that OPEC+ voluntary cuts can offset the non-OPEC supply growth.

• WTI JAN 24 up 0.1% at 71.32$/bbl
• Saudi Aramco has notified at least three buyers in North Asia that the firm will supply full contractual volumes of crude oil in January 2024, while buyers have asked for less supply amid high January OSPs to Asia.
• North Sea crude loadings for its 13 main grades are scheduled to drop to 1.93mn bpd in January from 2.05mn bpd in December according to Bloomberg.
• China is allowing crude oil import quotas for 2024 to be used by independent refineries in December according to S&P Global.
• Iraq’s OSP for Basrah Medium to Asia fell to a $1/bbl premium to the Oman-Dubai benchmark according to Bloomberg, down form a $1.80/bbl premium for December.
• Oil majors are moving ahead with production plans in Guyana despite threats from Venezuela, according to its President Irfaan Ali, cited by Bloomberg.
• OPEC+ oil output cut of 2.2m b/d in Q1, including 1.3m b/d of rollover cuts, may be too short-lived to tighten supply, traders told Reuters.
• Citi expects OPEC+ to maintain its voluntary cuts through 2024 due to global surplus expectations according to Max Layton, its Head of Commodities Research in a Bloomberg tv interview.
• A Libyan crude loading programme shows volumes at 31.7mn bbls, or 1.02m bpd in December compared to 32mn bbl or 1.07mn bpd in November according to Bloomberg.