WTI trades around $0.15 higher on the day,......>

OIL: WTI trades around $0.15 higher on the day, while Brent is little changed.

Both contracts sit off their early Asia lows, but have held to ~$0.50 ranges

thus far.

- Wednesday saw crude pressured by the broader risk backdrop and the DoE

inventory report, which consisted of a larger than expected build in headline

crude stocks (which was at odds with the sizeable surprise drawdown in the API

inventory estimate from the night before), alongside drawdowns in both gasoline

& distillate stocks and a small draw of stocks at the Cushing hub. Production

was a shade lower, with refinery run rates pulling back.

- Some suggested that internal violence & protests in Iraq may have helped the

space to form a base on Wednesday, but that could be desks scrambling to find &

fit a narrative.

- Elsewhere, we saw Russian President Putin note that the country is committed

to being a responsible OPEC+ producer, even as it continues to be a "serial

overproducer," while OPEC SecGen Barkindo stated that the reaction to the recent

goings on in Saudi prove that OPEC+ is a reliable source of oil supply.