US Daily Oil Summary: Crude Production Down Marginally in Dec

US crude production fell slightly in December to 13.315m b/d, according to EIA data, down 4k b/d on the month.

• Jet fuel demand rose to 1.67m b/d in December, around 5% higher than the EIA had estimated in its weekly reports, according to Bloomberg. Gasoline demand was revised up by 2% to 8.84m b/d compared to 8.64m b/d in weekly estimates.
• Jet fuel demand in North America is expected to average 1.5m b/d in February and will rise to 1.6m b/d in March and 1.7m b/d in April, according to Bloomberg.
• Forward Asia-US West Coast jet fuel spreads have softened on the month, Bloomberg added.
• The US DOE purchased 3.2mn barrels of crude oil for the SPR for July delivery, it said in a statement. The crude was purchased at an average price of $77.39/b.
• The greenback recovered after the European close, benefitting from a short-term position squeeze, potentially resulting from month-end positioning dynamics. The USD index extended its intra-day bounce to 0.4%.
• The Chicago Business BarometerTM, produced with MNI softened -2.0 points to 44.0 in February. This is the third consecutive monthly decline,
• Core PCE increased 0.416% M/M in January, fractionally stronger than the 0.4 median consensus which had tilted fractionally lower.
• Initial jobless claims surprised slightly higher in the week to Feb 24 at a seasonally adjusted 215k (cons 210k) after a marginally upward revised 202k (initial 201k).