US Daily Oil Summary: Crude Inventories Build

US crude inventories built in line with expectation amid an increase in refinery runs rates. A drop in production offset a rise in imports above the previous five-year range.

• EIA Weekly US Petroleum Summary - w/w change week ending Mar 01: Crude stocks +1,367 vs Exp +1,720, Gasoline stocks -4,460 vs Exp -1,060, Implied mogas demand +546, Distillate stocks -4,131 vs Exp -332, Implied dist demand +538
• Valero’s Corpus Christi West, Texas, refinery lost electrical supply to multiple units amid a power disruption on Tuesday morning which led to protective safety shutdown procedures.
• The US issued sanctions targeting two companies and two vessels that shipped commodities on behalf of Iranian-backed Houthi facilitator Sa'id al-Jamal, according to Reuters.
• USD: Lower US yields and higher equity benchmarks have weighed on the greenback on Wednesday, with G10 currency ranges showing some signs of life ahead of further event risk scheduled later this week. The USD Index's leg lower puts the greenback at the weakest since early February, down 0.5% on the session.
• The Federal Reserve is likely to begin cutting interest rates "at some point this year" but not until it becomes more confident that inflation will keep falling, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday.
• Job openings: 8.86m (cons 8.85m) in Jan after downward revised 8.889m (initial 9.026m) in Dec. The ratio to unemployed is basically unchanged, at 1.45 after 1.42 (initial 1.44).