- Oil edges lower despite tight supply concerns
- October ’23 loses 26c this morning to trade around $87.25/Bbl
- Saudi Arabia and Russia announced last week an extension of their voluntary supply cuts, totaling 1.3 MMBbl/d, through the end of the year
- Oil benchmarks soared to ten-month highs following the announcement, with WTI and Brent reaching highs of $88.08/Bbl and $91.15/Bbl, respectively
- Last week's supply cuts took precedence over uncertain China demand recovery data
- The dollar’s eight-week rally halted as China and Japan verbally intervened, leading the Bloomberg Dollar Index to drop 0.6% despite recent positive US economic data
- Furthermore, Russia's oil refineries reduced operations for seasonal maintenance, lowering processing capacity by 0.032 MMBbl/d M-o-M to 5.52 MMBbl/d
- China supertanker flow lowest since February (Bloomberg)
- China's incoming supertanker numbers (both VLCCs and ULCCs) plunge to a six-month low, with only 99 vessels expected in the next 90 days
- U.S. sees an uptick in supertanker traffic, with 41 ships heading its way, an increase of two from last week- the highest since July 21
- VLCCs can hold around 2 MMBbl, while ULCCs have a larger capacity at about 3 MMBbl
- Eastern Libya ports halted following a hurricane (Bloomberg)
- Major oil ports in eastern Libya, including Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, halted operations due to recent hurricane-induced flooding
- Although no significant damage was reported, reopening is expected to be in two days but will depend on evolving weather conditions
- Since August 2022, Libya's oil production rebounded to 1.2 MMBbl/d, attracting global oil companies and setting plans for a 2024 tender to target 2-3 MMBbl/d by 2026