Supported By Equities

The broader uptick in equities (discussed elsewhere) has supported the major crude benchmarks in early trade this week, with WTI & Brent sitting ~$0.50 & $0.40 above their respective settlement levels, although the contracts still sit some way shy of last week's best levels. A reminder that crude struggled on Friday.

• In terms of crude-specific headline flow, a BBG source report lodged back on Friday noted that "the Trump administration is advancing plans to auction drilling rights in the U.S. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, who has vowed to block oil exploration in the rugged Alaska wilderness."
• Elsewhere, the broadening round of social mobility limitations in the U.S. and Europe will hurt the demand side of the coin, while incremental supply from Libya seemingly continues to nudge higher.