US Daily Oil Summary: Crude Stocks Build

Crude stocks as expected built again this week with production holding steady at record highs. Imports and exports both dipped slightly on the week while refinery utilisation edged higher but remains at low levels following planned and unplanned outages in the month.

• The 149kbpd Borger refinery in Texas, owned by Phillips 66, is still operating despite ongoing wildfires in the region, the firm said, cited by Bloomberg.
• Vertex Energy is planning maintenance at its 88kbpd Mobile, Alabama, refinery in March, the company said in an earning call.
• An OPIS US gasoline demand survey indicates levels of about 8.4mn bpd last week. OPIS referred to the number as growing vs the week prior but lackluster vs historical levels.
• USD: Early weakness for major equity benchmarks on Tuesday supported the USD index to the best levels of the week at 1.0424. However, as US yields edged lower throughout the session and equities recovered, the greenback has been steadily paring its gains as we approach the APAC crossover.
• Core PCE inflation revised up from 1.99% to 2.07% annualized in Q4 on an unrounded basis.
• Looking ahead to tomorrow’s core PCE print for January, consensus sits at 0.4% M/M and the below unrounded analyst estimates average very close to that at 0.39.