- Oil trades lower as Israel-Hamas conflict’s supply impact remains contained
- November ’23 WTI lost 63c this morning to trade around $85.34/Bbl
- Prompt month WTI and Brent fell by nearly 40c and 50c, respectively, yesterday, reversing some of Monday's gains as concerns of supply disruptions due to the Israel conflict lessened
- Saudi Arabia's reassurance of its commitment to oil market stabilization alleviated short-term supply concerns
- Earlier on Wednesday, Putin said that OPEC+ cooperation will be continued, and additional measures to steady the market might be taken next year
- September's PPI for final demand moderated to 0.5% in September (vs. 0.7% in August), with gasoline prices up 5.4%; the annual overall PPI reached 2.2%, surpassing forecasts
- The Fed will likely proceed carefully amid adverse supply shocks and with annualized core PPI running above policymakers’ 2% inflation target
- Equities are trading higher, while the dollar is down ahead of this week’s CPI report
- US-Venezuela near deal on oil sanctions for democratic elections (Bloomberg)
- The US and Venezuela are close to reaching an agreement that would bring limited sanction relief for oil and banking in exchange for a commitment to more democratic presidential elections
- Venezuela’s oil exports were 0.8 MMBbl/d in September, and the sanctions relief is expected to boost exports to just short of 1.1 MMBBl/d
- Meeting the conditions could also pave the way for Venezuela to recover $3 billion from European accounts
- Yellen says nothing is off the table for sanctions on Iran (Bloomberg)
- US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the Biden administration hasn’t ruled out new sanctions against Iran new sanctions on Iran amidst renewed Middle East conflict, but no decisions have been made
- “I wouldn’t take anything off the table in terms of future possible actions, but I certainly don’t want to get ahead of where we are now,” said Yellen on the sidelines of the IMF and the World Bank meetings
- Contrary to Bloomberg reports, Yellen denied the US easing some enforcement of sanctions on Iranian oil sales for diplomatic reasons