Brent crude was up 40 cents, or 0.7%, at $54.70 a barrel by 0512 GMT before pushing up to highs of $54.85 at 0700GMT, after gaining 1.3% overnight. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 43 cents, or 0.9% to $51.06. The contract rose 1.4% on Wednesday.
EIA week ending 1/1
Crude oil: -8.0M
Gasoline: +4.5M
Distillates: +6.4M
Refiner utilz: 80.7%
Impld mogas demand: 7.44 Mbpd
Sentiment in the oil market was lifted overnight as crude stocks fell in the latest EIA report, there is growing optimism over the US stimulus package being passed and the dollar is weakening in the wake of a democrat win in Georgia that was a catalyst for the start of rioters storming the Capitol building in Washington DC.
Saudi Arabi have announced that they are cutting output by 1 million barrels per day in February and March as a gesture of goodwill to other oil producing nations to continue raising output, yet there seems to be a sentiment that is ominous in the gesture, as it could be a signal that Saudi expect demand to fall rapidly over the next few months prior to a mass vaccine rollout. By removing an extra 60 million barrels from the market, the cut should ensure inventories continue to fall even if the epidemic surges again, vaccine deployment is slow, and international aviation remains restricted.
The move is one that is rarely seen for the OPEC kingpin, as between 2014 and 2016, Saudi Arabia would not make any cuts to output without the proportionate cuts from other OPEC members.
INDEX: (MTD Estimates)
* Sing 380: 311.11
* Rott 3.5%: 296.00
* Sing 0.5%: 406.96
* Rott 0.5%: 379.25
MARKETS NEWS:
* Shale CEO Sees Slow U.S. Oil Output Recovery Despite OPEC Pact
* U.S. Imports No Saudi Crude Oil for First Time in 35 Years
* Saudi Oil Supply Cuts Will Affect Both Local Sales and Exports
* Saudi Arabia’s Extra Oil Cut to Last Two Months, Minister Says
* Oil Refiners Reel From Saudi Output Cut Even as Demand Eases
* Colombia Oil Production Falls 13.5% Y/y in November: Ministry
* Tanker Rates Shrug Off Middle East Tension Despite Escalation
* OPEC Production Rose Last Month as Libya Continued Comeback
* Libya Maintains OSPs for Es Sider and Sharara Crudes in January
* U.S. Gasoline Demand Plummets With Recovery Appearing Far Off
* Mideast-China Supertanker Rates Fall; Med-Asia Clean Tankers Up
* Oil Tanker Said to Be Allowed to Load at Libya’s Hariga Port
OTHER NEWS:
* Big Oil Skips Trump’s Last-Minute Arctic Drilling-Rights Auction
OIL PRODUCT NEWS:
* U.S.: Gasoline Demand Falls to Early Pandemic Level
* EUROPE: Gasoil Crack Drops; Total Bids Diesel Again
* ASIA: Saudis Surprise Refiners; Hanwha Buys Naphtha
ECONOMIC DATA/EVENTS:
* Singapore onshore oil-product stockpile weekly data
* Russian weekly refinery outage data from ministry
* Insights Global weekly report on European product inventories in ARA region
* HOLIDAY: Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Ghana, Egypt
ANALYST VIEWS/COLUMNS:
* Oil Sands Producers Better Positioned Than U.S. Shale: Deloitte
* Oil to Dominate Inflows During Commodity Index Rebalancing: Citi
* StanChart Raises Brent Price Forecasts on Saudi Oil Output Cut
OTHER FINANCIAL MARKETS:
* Asia Stocks Up on U.S. Senate Sweep; Bonds Steady: Markets Wrap
*Rotterdam 3.5% INDIC*
Feb21 309.25 / 311.25
Mar21 307.75 / 309.75
Apr21 305.00 / 307.00
May21 302.00 / 304.00
Jun21 298.75 / 300.75
Jul21 295.25 / 297.25
Q2-21 302.00 / 304.00
Q3-21 291.50 / 293.50
Q4-21 281.50 / 283.50
Q1-22 276.25 / 279.25
CAL22 264.50 / 270.50
*Singapore 380 INDIC*
Feb21 323.50 / 325.50
Mar21 322.75 / 324.75
Apr21 320.25 / 322.25
May21 317.50 / 319.50
Jun21 314.75 / 316.75
Jul21 312.00 / 314.00
Q2-21 317.50 / 319.50
Q3-21 309.00 / 311.00
Q4-21 301.25 / 303.25
Q1-22 297.50 / 300.50
CAL22 285.75 / 291.75
*Rott VLSFO 0.5% INDIC*
Feb21 386.00 / 391.00
Mar21 384.75 / 389.75
Apr21 383.75 / 388.75
May21 383.00 / 388.00
Jun21 382.25 / 387.25
Jul21 381.50 / 386.50
Q2-21 383.00 / 388.00
Q3-21 380.75 / 385.75
Q4-21 378.00 / 384.00
Q1-22 375.75 / 383.75
CAL22 378.50 / 386.50
*Singapore VLSFO 0.5% INDIC*
Feb21 409.50 / 414.50
Mar21 408.00 / 413.00
Apr21 407.00 / 412.00
May21 406.25 / 411.25
Jun21 405.50 / 410.50
Jul21 404.75 / 409.75
Q2-21 406.25 / 411.25
Q3-21 404.00 / 409.00
Q4-21 402.25 / 408.25
Q1-22 401.00 / 409.00
CAL22 395.75 / 403.75
*Sing 10ppm GO INDIC*
Feb21 58.86 / 59.00
Mar21 59.03 / 59.23
Apr21 59.17 / 59.37
May21 59.30 / 59.50
Jun21 59.39 / 59.59
Jul21 59.52 / 59.72
Q2-21 59.25 / 59.55
Q3-21 59.58 / 59.88
Q4-21 59.70 / 60.00
Q1-22 59.98 / 60.28
CAL22 59.37 / 59.77
*ICE Gasoil 10ppm INDIC*
Feb21 441.29 / 443.29
Mar21 441.29 / 443.29
Apr21 442.60 / 444.60
May21 443.49 / 445.49
Jun21 444.29 / 446.29
Jul21 445.33 / 447.33
Q2-21 443.45 / 445.45
Q3-21 446.37 / 448.37
Q4-21 448.43 / 450.43
Q1-22 448.29 / 450.29
CAL22 445.43 / 447.43
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