Risk Appetite & UAE Threats Apply Light Pressure

WTI & Brent sit $0.35 and $0.25 below their respective settlement levels at typing, with the broader defensive feel evident during Asia-Pac hours (drivers outlined elsewhere) applying some light pressure to crude, although both benchmarks have recovered from worst levels. This comes after the metrics lodged gains of ~$0.35 & ~$0.60 respectively on Wednesday.

• A quick reminder that late Wednesday saw a BBG source report suggest that "the United Arab Emirates ratcheted up tension with oil allies Saudi Arabia and Russia, with officials privately floating a surprising idea: the Gulf producer is even considering leaving the OPEC+ alliance…It's unclear whether the warning is a manoeuvre to force a negotiation over production levels, or represents a genuine policy debate." Perhaps the UAE is growing tired of the serial undercompliers re: the OPEC+ production pact, given the UAE's own voluntary overcompliance.
• Elsewhere, the Saudi Energy Minister pointed to the stability in markets fostered by the OPEC+ agreement, while noting that the group has the will and ability to provide further stability.
• Wednesday's weekly DoE inventory report saw a shallower than expected build in headline crude stocks (which was also notably shallower than the build seen in the API estimates), while the release affirmed the relatively deep drawdown in distillate stocks and build in gasoline inventories. Elsewhere, refinery runs saw a larger than expected uptick, with U.S. crude production also edging higher as Gulf of Mexico facilities came back online after the recent tropical storm-related outage.