- Volatility in oil has been high as the market is tight and traders battle geopolitical news
- The world’s most important physical oil price, Dated Brent, traded above $100/Bbl for the first time since 2014 yesterday (Bloomberg)
- “The strength in Dated Brent clearly suggest refiners are out procuring short-haul barrels,” Energy Aspects analyst Amrita Sen wrote to clients this week
- Sen went on to say, “The only way to balance this market over the medium term remains high oil prices to slow demand growth.”
- In the U.S., oil inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, where WTI is priced, sunk to their lowest since 2018
- Stocks at Cushing fell 1.9 MMBbl to 25.8 MMBbl
- Overall, U.S. crude inventories rose last week by 1.1 MMBbl to 411.5 MMBbl, according to the EIA
- A positive statement from Iran yesterday knocked oil prices off their highs
- WTI fell from $94/Bbl to $90/Bbl just before market close yesterday around the time Iran’s Ali Bagheri Kani tweeted that restoring his country’s nuclear deal with world powers is “closer than ever,”