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First Look - Oil prices steady after EIA reports significant crude draw

Prompt-month WTI crude was little changed Thursday morning, down 9c to $69.56/Bbl (7:45 AM CT)
- Prices rose after US crude stocks saw their largest weekly decline since December, falling 3.34 MMBbls to a one-month low (EIA)
- Gasoline inventories also fell, adding to bullish sentiment
- Despite the recent price uptrend, traders remain cautious amid expectations of rising supply
Brent prompt spread widened (Bloomberg)
- The WTI-Brent spread hit its widest level since late January as Brent gains outpaced WTI
- Nymex gasoline crack strengthened 38c to $24.27/Bbl, the highest since late February
Iranian tankers idle off Malaysia
- Nearly a dozen US-sanctioned tankers carrying Iranian crude—about 17 MMBbls—are idling offshore Malaysia (OilX)
- Some have been stationary for over a month, potentially waiting for ship-to-ship transfers or interest from Chinese private refiners

Natural gas is mostly unchanged ahead of the April contract expiry
- The April Henry Hub contract is up about 1c to $3.87/MMbtu, while Winter ‘25/’26 and Summer ’26 are slightly higher (8:10 AM)
- Lower 48 demand is expected to remain weak over the next two weeks, as temperatures average about 56 °F
- The EIA is expected to report a storage injection of 34 Bcf, according to the Bloomberg survey
Unusually active hurricane season forecasted (BBG)
- AccuWeather has forecasted another unusually active Atlantic hurricane season for this year, with as many as 18 storms possibly impacting the US, compared to an average of 14
- While hurricane season does not typically start until June 1, early indications have forecasters seeing similarities to the 2024 hurricane season
- In the past, hurricanes were a bullish factor for natural gas as they can force offshore production platforms to shut in
  - Hurricanes are now more of a bearish risk given the concentration of significant LNG export, industrial, and power demand along the US Gulf Coast