- Oil is trading back above $70 after falling nearly $3 yesterday
- Following yesterday's EIA report which showed the first storage draw in several weeks, US crude inventories are 1% below the five-year average
- Recently released data shows Chinese crude imports fell to a four-month low in November
- Russian crude falls below price cap for the first time since July (BBG)
- The recent decline in oil prices has pushed the price of Russia’s Urals crude to $56.15/Bbl at the Baltic Sea port of Primorsk
- Western countries have stepped up enforcement of sanctions on Russia in recent weeks, sanctioning eight tankers
- Data from Argus shows that the spread between export and import prices has widened, which implies a larger percentage of trade is being conducted by middlemen and shipping firms who are often anonymous
- Guyana increases security and asks for US assistance (BBG)
- Following Venezuela’s referendum on the annexation of Guyana’s oil-rich Essequibo region, Guyana said it is increasing security measures as well as asking the US military for help
- Venezuelan President Maduro escalated tensions further on Tuesday, ordering the Venezuelan state oil company to begin granting exploration licenses for deposits in the region and ordering foreign companies operating in the Essequibo to withdraw within three months
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that the US will offer “unwavering support for Guyana’s sovereignty.”