- Oil trades higher as the market expects a significant deficit this quarter
- November ’23 WTI gains 43c this morning to trade around $91.22/Bbl
- Over the weekend, the US passed a bill averting a government shutdown, securing funds until November 17
- Both crude benchmarks rallied nearly 28% in the third quarter as Saudi Arabia and Russia extended their supply output cuts through December
- OPEC projects a 3.3 MMBbl/d deficit in the fourth quarter of 2023 for the global oil markets
- On the demand side, China's factory activity expanded for the first time in six months in September, hinting at economic stabilization in the world's second-largest economy
- September's PMI rose to 50.2 from 49.7, indicating growth, as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics
- This week, China's Golden Week holiday is expected to boost travel and aid economic recovery, further improving demand outlook
- Additionally, the US dollar is trading near its recent ten-month highs, making dollar-denominated commodities expensive
- Turkey's oil pipe restart optimism meets Iraq's skepticism (Bloomberg)
- The pipeline transporting nearly 0.5 MMBbl/d of crude has been offline since March due to payment disputes between Turkey and Iraq
- Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said, "The pipeline is ready to operate, and within this week, we will start operating the Iraqi-Turkey pipeline, which, after resuming operations, will be able to supply half a million barrels” of oil a day to global markets
- However, an Iraqi official countered that oil flows won't continue until commercial and financial disagreements are settled