The WTI prompt-month contract edged up $0.03 to $63.32/Bbl on Friday morning (7:30 AM CT), trading in sharp swings as headlines around the Oman meeting drove volatility
Iranian officials described the talks as an initial diplomatic step aimed at “managing the current situation”
Even with the geopolitical risk premium supporting prices, crude remains on track for its first weekly decline since December
Separately, trilateral discussions involving the US, Ukraine, and Russia produced the first prisoner exchange in five months, a potential signal of incremental progress toward ending the four-year conflict
Saudi lowers official selling price (Bloomberg)
Saudi Arabia cut the Arab Light official selling price for Asian buyers by $0.30/Bbl to parity with the regional benchmark, pushing the differential to the lowest level in years and signaling that global supply is running ahead of demand
The smaller-than-expected reduction suggests the kingdom still sees underlying demand resilience, helping ease concerns about a deeper near-term surplus
Natural gas prompt month is up 8c to $3.589/MMBtu (07:30 AM CT)
L48 supply took a -1.7 Bcf/d hit this morning due to a -1.0 Bcf/d loss in Canadian imports and a -0.7 Bcf/d hit to L48 production (Criterion)
CAD imports are sitting at 6.0 Bcf/d to bring the weekly average down to 7.8 Bcf/d, which is down 1.3 Bcf/d from last week
L48 production has a weekly average of 109.4 Bcf/d, which is up from an average of 102.9 Bcf/d last week
Weather forecasts have shifted slightly warmer today, with gains in the 1-5 day range, primarily in the Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, and South Central
These forecasted gains in the 1–5 day range work to more than offset losses in the 6-10 day range across most of the L48
L48 forecasted gas demand shed -6.2 Bcf this morning, which partially reverses yesterdays 10.4 Bcf gain
US LNG feedgas nominations slipped -55 MMcf/d this morning to 19.1 Bcf/d (Criterion)
LNG feedgas nominations recovered 3.18 Bcf/d this week to 19.16 Bcf/d as many L48 LNG facilities returning to normal operations
Elba LNG terminal ramped back up to full capacity this morning, working to offset losses across the gulf coast
In the upcoming weeks Corpus prepares to bring on Stage 3 Train 5, and Golden Pass is expected to start producing LNG in early March
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