Good morning all. Brent futures were down 22 cents, or 0.5%, at $45.15 a barrel by 3:22 am GMT, while WTI was down 23 cents, or 0.5%, at $42.66 a barrel.
Oil prices moved higher overnight on strong support from ramped-up China crude purchases, a faster-than-expected US economic recovery and liquidity injections from China’s central bank. Still, the rally was capped by the steady rise of global COVID-19 cases, now at 21,809,170, while total deaths reached 772,479, according to data from John Hopkins University.
On the supply side, OPEC+ exceeded its quotas by 357,000 b/d from May to July according to Platts calculations and the overall cut compliance was pegged at 95% for July, compared to 107% in June and 87% in May. While no further changes are expected for the OPEC+ production accord which eased into 7.7 million b/d from August, a focus on compliance and compensation cuts is expected to be supportive to the global crude complex.
Meanwhile, US crude inventories likely fell by 3.8 million barrels last week, on the back of soaring exports and higher refinery demand, a Platts analysis showed on August 17. This would mark the fourth consecutive week of decline, and the longest stretch of weekly draws since September 2019.
Market participants will look to fresh cues from the inventory reports by the American Petroleum Institute and the Energy Information Administration on Aug. 18 and 19 respectively.
MARKETS NEWS:
* Iraq Said to Sign Memorandum With Chevron to Explore For Oil
* Tehran Says Ships Targeted by U.S. Were Holding Iranian Fuel
* U.S. Navy Monitoring, in Contact With Tankers Over Iran Threats
* EIA Sees U.S. Shale-Oil Falling 19K B/D to 7.56M B/D in Sept.
* U.S. Gasoline Demand Recovers to Pre-Virus Levels : GasBuddy
* Libya to Export 1.8m Bbl of Oil in September: Loading Plan
* Angola to Cut Oil Exports to 1.27M B/d in October: Plan
* Urals Crude Loadings From Baltic to Rise to 5 Cargoes Sept. 1-5
* Benchmark VLCC Rates Edge Higher; Europe-U.S. Clean Tankers Jump
OTHER NEWS:
* U.S. Announces New Curbs on Huawei Access to U.S. Technology
* Trump Praises China Farm Purchases After Delay in Trade Talks
* Whiting Petroleum CEO Holly to Get $2.5 Million Severance Pay
* Biggest Trucker in India to Scrap 15% of Fleet in ‘Lost Year’
* Genevieve Rapidly Strengthens Into Category 2 Hurricane: NHC
* Mexico Gazettes Agreement Setting Special Tax Incentives for Fuel Production, Services
PHYSICAL CRUDE NEWS:
* ASIA: Nayara Buys Murban; OPEC+ to Defend Oil-Market Gains
* LATAM: Venezuela-Bound Ships Loaded in Iran; Brazil Field
* US/CANADA: Kinder Morgan Pipes Back to Normal After Outage
* NSEA: Equinor Offers Oseberg Lower; Buzzard Share in FPS
* MED: Litasco Sells CPC at 3-Month Low; Urals 5-Day Program
* WAF: Angola to Cut Oil Exports in October; Spain June
OIL PRODUCT NEWS:
* U.S.: Colonial Line 1 Pipe Running at Reduced Rate
* EUROPE: Flow to U.S. Drops; Fawley Restarting Unit
* ASIA: Indian Diesel Demand Falls; Flows to Americas
ECONOMIC EVENTS: (Times are London)
* OPEC+ to hold online meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee
* 9:30pm API weekly oil inventory report
ANALYST COLUMNS:
* Oil Demand Outlook Bullish With Glut to Shrink: Fitch Solutions
* Seeing Full Effect of Saudi Oil Output Cuts: BBO‘s Lee
* Venezuela Fuel Shortage To Worsen After U.S. Seizures: Eurasia
* Gasoline Demand Up Slightly to 8.912M B/D Last Week: Descartes
OTHER FINANCIAL MARKETS:
* Asian Stocks, U.S. Futures Drift; Dollar Retreats: Markets Wrap
Singapore 380 INDIC
Sep20 263.75 / 265.75
Oct20 262.00 / 264.00
Nov20 261.25 / 263.25
Dec20 262.00 / 264.00
Jan21 263.75 / 265.75
Feb21 265.75 / 267.75
Q4-20 261.75 / 263.75
Q1-21 265.75 / 267.75
Q2-21 271.25 / 273.25
Q3-21 275.25 / 278.25
CAL21 269.25 / 275.25
Rotterdam 3.5% INDIC
Sep20 249.50 / 251.50
Oct20 247.25 / 249.25
Nov20 246.50 / 248.50
Dec20 246.75 / 248.75
Jan21 248.75 / 250.75
Feb21 250.50 / 252.50
Q4-20 246.75 / 248.75
Q1-21 250.25 / 252.25
Q2-21 254.75 / 256.75
Q3-21 257.25 / 260.25
CAL21 252.75 / 258.75
Singapore VLSFO 0.5% INDIC
Sep20 331.25 / 336.25
Oct20 333.00 / 338.00
Nov20 335.00 / 340.00
Dec20 337.25 / 342.25
Jan21 340.25 / 345.25
Feb21 343.00 / 348.00
Q4-20 335.00 / 340.00
Q1-21 343.00 / 348.00
Q2-21 350.25 / 356.25
Q3-21 357.00 / 363.00
CAL21 353.00 / 359.00
Rott VLSFO 0.5% INDIC
Sep20 308.75 / 313.75
Oct20 312.00 / 317.00
Nov20 314.50 / 319.50
Dec20 316.75 / 321.75
Jan21 320.50 / 325.50
Feb21 323.75 / 328.75
Q4-20 314.50 / 319.50
Q1-21 323.75 / 328.75
Q2-21 331.50 / 337.50
Q3-21 338.25 / 344.25
CAL21 334.00 / 340.00
Sing 10ppm GO INDIC
Sep20 49.82 / 49.96
Oct20 50.30 / 50.50
Nov20 50.78 / 50.98
Dec20 51.25 / 51.45
Jan21 51.79 / 51.99
Feb21 52.30 / 52.50
Q4-20 50.80 / 51.00
Q1-21 52.30 / 52.50
Q2-21 53.69 / 53.89
Q3-21 54.96 / 55.16
CAL21 54.07 / 54.47
ICE Gasoil 10ppm INDIC
Sep20 378.22 / 380.22
Oct20 383.23 / 385.23
Nov20 387.35 / 389.35
Dec20 391.29 / 393.29
Jan21 395.52 / 397.52
Feb21 399.73 / 401.73
Q4-20 387.30 / 389.30
Q1-21 399.37 / 401.37
Q2-21 407.85 / 409.85
Q3-21 420.07 / 422.07
CAL21 413.29 / 415.29
Rott Hi5 Sing Hi5
Sep20 61 69
Oct20 66 72
Nov20 70 75
Dec20 72 77
Jan21 73 78
Feb21 75 79
Q4-20 69 75
Q1-21 75 79
Q2-21 79 81
Q3-21 82 83
CAL21 81 84