WTI & Brent have added ~$0.30, aided by an......>

OIL: WTI & Brent have added ~$0.30, aided by an uptick in the major Asia-Pac

equity markets. Elsewhere, Middle East tensions continue to boil, which will

also be supporting crude prices, although this particular round of stresses is

probably back from Tuesday/Wednesday peaks. The Iranian Supreme Leader & U.S.

President traded some (indirect) barbs after a paramilitary group surrounded the

U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, before withdrawing. Khamenei pushed back against

the idea that his country was involved in the event, which came on the back of

U.S. airstrikes on Hezbollah facilities in Iraq & Syria. The U.S. has deployed

~700 extra troops to the Middle East as a result of the goings on in Baghdad.

- On the supply front, Nikkei sources noted that "leading Japanese energy groups

JXTG Holdings & Inpex will invest in a new crude oil exchange in the UAE,

seeking a route around a risky bottleneck for the Asian economy's oil supply."

- Worth highlighting that reports pointed to a deeper than exp. drawdown in

headline crude stocks in the latest API inventory estimate, released Tues. This

was reportedly coupled by a drawdown in stocks at the Cushing hub, a surprise

drawdown in gasoline stocks & a larger than exp. build in distillate stocks.