- Oil trades higher, extending gains from yesterday
- The US continues to strike targets in Yemen as tensions in the Red Sea continue to rise
- The EIA will release its weekly crude inventory report today, with the API forecasting a build in US inventories of 0.5 MMBbls, and a Cushing build of 2 MMBbls
- IEA raises 2024 oil demand forecast (Reuters)
- The International Energy Agency has increased its forecast for oil demand growth in 2024, although its expectations are still lower than OPEC’s
- The latest forecast is 180 MBbl/d higher at 1.24 MMBbl/d of demand growth
- The group forecasts supply to grow by 1.5 MMBbl/d, driven by the US, Brazil, and Guyana
- The IEA said in their report, "Barring significant disruptions to oil flows, the market looks reasonably well supplied in 2024, with higher-than-expected non-OPEC+ production increases set to outpace oil demand growth by a healthy margin"
- Gulf Coast crude prices strengthen as takeaway capacity tightens (Reuters)
- WTI at the Magellan East Houston terminal has traded at a 45c premium to WTI Midland this month, compared to a 2023 average of a 21c premium
- Wood Mackenzie expects the MEH-Midland spread to trade higher in 2024, averaging a premium of 75c
- Pipelines from the Permian Basin to the US Gulf Coast were 80% full in December, according to data from Wood Mackenzie
- Flows from the Permian to Houston rose to 73% of capacity in December compared to 52% in July, as high utilization on pipes to Corpus Christi pushed more crude to Houston
- Wood Mackenzie said, "We expect incremental barrels out of the Permian largely moving to Houston as limited room for growth remains on Corpus Christi-bound lines,"
