US Daily Oil Summary: Venezuelan Oil Sanction Easing to Boost US Refiners

The loosening of sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry will be a boost to US refiners, well-equipped to process its heavy crude, according to Bloomberg.

• US refiners with high Nelson Company Indexes – more sophisticated and complex refineries with additional conversion units – can buy discounted barrels and extract higher value products from heavier crudes.
• US crude oil inventories are expected to be largely stable on the week when the EIA released the data Oct. 25, based on a WSJ survey.
• US gasoline imports from Europe in the week through October 19 matched the previous period’s four-week low according to Bloomberg vessel tracking.
• Marathon Petroleum’s 593kbpd Galveston Bay refinery in Texas is expected to undergo maintenance at least until mid-November, people familiar with the plant operations said, cited by Reuters.
• USD: In a direct reversal of Monday trade, the USD index looks set to close 0.7% in the green. Gains were underpinned by higher front-end yields, the softer Euro following the weaker-than-expected PMIs and the divergent above-estimate US PMI figures.
• The 5&P Global composite PMI surprisingly increased to 51.0 (cons 50.0) from 50.2 in the preliminary October report. The positive surprise and increase was led by services at a three-month high (50.9 vs cons 49.9 after 50.1), whilst manufacturing also firmed to a six-month high (50.0 vs cons 49.5 after 42.8).
• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking at a ministerial session of the United Nations Security Council, has called for "humanitarian pauses" to allow aid into Gaza, but stopped short of urging Israel to restrain its response to Hamas.
• With the House of Representatives speaker-less for 20 days - and failed bids from House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) - House Republicans will today embark on ‘Plan C’ to elect a new speaker.