- Oil is trading higher, near $79, extending gains from yesterday
- Fires in the Texas panhandle are threatening the 149 MBbl/s Phillips 66 Borger refinery
- The API forecasts an 8.43 MMBbl build in crude inventories, which would bring US inventories to the five-year average
- Chinese oil demand to slow on softer economy (BBG)
- CNPC’s Economics and Technology Research Institute said that China’s oil demand is entering a low-growth phase, driven by a slowdown in refined products demand growth
- China’s crude purchases have been firm following the Lunar New Year, but concerns persist
- While the pace of demand growth will slow, demand is still expected to increase over the next several years
- Transmountain raises cost estimates again (BBG)
- The expansion of the Transmountain pipeline, which will transport Canadian heavy crude from Alberta to Vancouver for export, will cost an additional $2.3 billion
- The total cost of the long-delayed pipeline has now risen to just over $25 billion, six times more than the original estimate of $4 billion in 2013
- The pipeline is expected to enter service in Q2 2024, which should expand export capacity for Canadian oil
