Slightly Higher Amidst Russia-Ukraine Worry As Chinese Demand Outlook Provides Balance

WTI and Brent are ~$0.70 firmer apiece, printing $104.9 and $110.9 respectively at typing. Both benchmarks operate comfortably above Tuesday’s trough as some hope re: progress in Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks has turned to caution, with well-documented western scepticism towards Russia’s announcements of military de-escalations in the north of Ukraine doing the rounds in Asia.

• To recap, WTI and Brent fell to session lows at $98.44 and $104.84 respectively on Tuesday amidst perceived progress in ongoing Russia-Ukraine negotiations, before erasing losses as the top Russian negotiator stated that talks had “a long way to go”.
• Looking to China, demand worry remains elevated as authorities announced a rise in both symptomatic and asymptomatic cases (total of 8,825 cases for Mar 29 vs. 7,051 for Mar 28), with a 3-day lockdown announced in the Chinese city of Xuzhou as well (population ~9mn).
• Turning to the Middle East, there has been no discernible progress in indirect U.S.-Iran nuclear talks.
• Elsewhere, weekly U.S. API inventories crossed on Tuesday, with reports pointing to drawdowns in crude, gasoline, distillate, and Cushing hub stocks. Looking ahead, EIA data is due later on Wednesday (1430 GMT), with WSJ median estimates calling for declines in crude, gasoline, and distillate stockpiles as well.