- Oil rebounds but heads for a modest weekly loss
- April ’23 WTI gained 25c this morning to trade around $75/Bbl
- Crude reversed earlier gains after hotter-than-expected PCE data (up 0.6%) bolstered the case for Fed to keep rates higher for longer
- Yesterday, the EIA reported another large crude build (7.6 MMBbl), which brought U.S. inventories to their highest since May 2021
- Also weighing on prices this week was a strong US dollar that is at a three-month high
- Concerns about a slowdown in the economy persist despite a recovery in Chinese demand and a potentially tightening Russian supply
- Diesel floods the EU as the Russian gap is filled with barrels from the east (BBG)
- Initial Vortexa estimates show that Europe will import 1.55 MMBbl/d of diesel or gasoil-type fuel this month, slightly more than January's volumes
- Europe was still able to import large amounts of diesel in February, largely because imports from the Middle East and Asia filled the Russian deficit
- Diesel margins in Europe —the profit made from refining the fuel from crude—have declined steadily this month amid resilient fuel supply and weaker demand brought on by mild winter