WTI trades $0.25 above settlement at writing,...>

OIL: WTI trades $0.25 above settlement at writing, with Brent sitting $0.15

better off. This comes after crude settled lower on Wednesday, hindered by

broader risk aversion, although both benchmarks finished well off worst levels

as Tsys pulled back from session highs during the U.S. afternoon.

- In terms of crude specifics Wednesday saw several supply side issues flagged,

which the space ultimately looked through. RTRS sources noted that Iranian crude

exports have fallen sharply in May, to around 400K BPD, as the U.S. sanctions on

the Gulf state bite. Elsewhere, Russia's First Deputy PM noted that the country

will consider an extension of the current OPEC+ production agreement. There were

also reports suggesting that Iraq's Basra Oil Co. has cut production by 500K BPD

until the end of the month. Late Wednesday saw the release of the latest API

crude inventory estimate, with reports suggesting that the data revealed a much

larger than expected headline drawdown in crude stocks, accompanied by a

surprise drawdown in distillate stocks and a surprise build in gasoline stocks,

as well as a limited drawdown at the Cushing hub.

- Focus today moves to the weekly DoE inventory report.