- Iraq to lower oil production to start 2021, to compensate for 2020 quota breaches (Bloomberg)
- Iraq will pump around 2.6 MMBbl/d in January, February, its lowest production since early 2015
- Exports will drop by an average of 300 MBbl/d, from 3.3 MMBbl/d to 3.0 MMBbl/d, according to Ali Nizar, the deputy head of SOMO
- Iranian oil tanker seized in Indonesian waters on suspicions of illegally transferring crude to skirt U.S. sanctions (Reuters)
- The Iranian tanker was transferring 2 MMBbl in crude to a VLCC owned by Shanghai Future Ship Management Co
- AEGIS notes that conflicts in the gulf nearly always bodes well for prices, though the volatility historically caused by middle-east tensions seems to have dissipated
- The market received bearish data reported by the EIA on Friday
- The EIA reported a build of (+) 4,352 MBbls for the week ending January 15, well above the estimate of a (-)1,739 MBbls draw
- Inventories for the U.S. are now at a surplus of 58.052 MBbls to last year and a surplus of 42.79 MBbls to the five-year average
- AEGIS notes prices were down following the announcement as the consensus was that there would be a draw in inventories. While stocks in Cushing fell, a large build in PADD 3 stocks pushed the total number higher