- Crude oil futures rose 1.2% amid a broader equities rally and a weaker dollar
- Oil has continued to march higher so far in the new year with the absence of major news or data releases
- Most of the 2022 gains are likely attributed to a handful of global supply outages
- In the background, Covid-19 cases are surging to new records, but the impact on oil demand is seen as minimal
- In the world’s largest crude importer, Chinese authorities have locked down a city of 5 million people following the detection of Omicron in Henan province (Bloomberg)
- China has continued to approach the pandemic with a zero-tolerance policy to try and eliminate viral spreading
- The output gap between OPEC+ crude and its quotas has widened (S&P Platts)
- Fourteen out the 18 members of OPEC+ with quotas fell short of their targets in December
- Total OPEC+ compliance climbed to 116.5%, the highest since the group started its cuts in the spring of 2020, the Platts survey found
- The combined shortfall was some 620 MBbl/d below their caps