| At 10:42 am Singapore time (0221 GMT), the ICE February Brent futures contract was down 5 cents/b (0.07%) from the previous close at $75.39/b, while the NYMEX January light sweet crude contract fell 5 cents/b (0.07%) at $72/b.
API
Crude -3.089m
Gasoline +3.705m
Distillate +1.228m
Cushing +2.395m
The API said Dec. 7 that US gasoline inventories rose by 3.7 million barrels for the week ended Dec. 3, while distillate stocks edged higher by 1.2 million barrels over the same period. That overshadowed a draw in US crude oil inventories of 3.1 million barrels.
Crude prices have added close to 10% in value over the last two days alone as emerging reports continued to cement the view that the omicron variant of the coronavirus, though more transmissible, was less deadly than earlier strains. Analysts said oil prices were ripe for some profit-taking, though the upward momentum remained intact in the longer term. Crude prices were currently hovering not far from overbought territory, the Relative Strength Index on the four-hourly charts for both benchmarks showed, though the daily chart showed they still had room to run. (S&P Global Platts)
The oil market continued to strengthen yesterday as concern over the demand impact from the Omicron variant starts to fade. Brent managed to rally more than 3.4%, taking it back above the US$75/bbl mark. Although, the prompt Brent time spread has not seen the same sort of strength as the flat price. The latest trade data from China shows that crude oil imports over November increased by 15% MoM to average 10.21MMbbls/d over the month. However, volumes were still down 8% YoY. While YTD imports are still down more than 7% YoY. Refined product exports from China totalled 4.19mt over the month, an increase of more than 6% MoM. However, volumes are still down more than 15% YoY. Lower export quotas and a tighter domestic products market have weighed on Chinese oil product exports. (ING)
OIL MARKET ROUND-UP: (Bloomberg)
* U.S. Sees Oil Prices Weakening Further Over the Next Year
* Traders Take Long-Shot Bets on Chance of U.S. Oil Export Ban
* U.S. Needs 5-Years to Resume Pre-Covid Oil Output, CEO Says
* Baker Hughes CEO Sees Ample Oil Supply in Rebuke to Halliburton
* ConocoPhillips CEO Says Regulations Hold Back Oil Supply
* API Reports U.S. Crude Stockpiles fell 3.1M Bbl Last Week
* EIA Lowers 2022 U.S. Crude Output Forecast to 11.85m b/d
* Saudi, Oman Say Important for OPEC+ to Adhere to Agreement
* China Imports of U.S. Crude Recover Sharply in October: Census
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