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Brent crude futures for January rose 19 cents, or 0.43%, to $43.94 a barrel by 0744 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for December eased 3 cents, or 0.1%, to $41.40 a barrel by 0430 GMT. This rise has continued into the morning trading, with Brent pushing above $44.
API Predictions:
Crude +4.174
Cushing +0.176
Gasoline +0.256
Distillate -5.024
OPEC and its allies see oil inventories declining into 2021 should the supply cuts be extended into the new year, as opposed to relaxing them on January 01, as current plans would allow. OPEC are meeting over the next few weeks to discuss the way in which producers continue output rates, with a document leaked stating its claim for the continued output cuts. (Reuters
Crude stocks increased according to the latest API report by 4.2 million barrels, this was well above the analysts’ predictions of a build of only 1.7 million barrels. Disappointing US retail sales also sparked concern as to the speed of the recovery from the pandemic devastation. With consumption lower than would have hoped, the case numbers continue to climb although the news of a vaccine had positive effects on the wider markets.
The UAE has achieved 126% compliance with output cuts set by OPEC in October, as it looked to compensate for earlier over-production in August this year. The UAE produced 2.4 million barrels per day in October, with its quotas set at 2.59 million barrels per day.
Fujairah Fuel oil stocks have dropped to their lowest level in over two years according to data released from S&P Global Platts. The heavy distillate stocks fell to their lowest level, as a result of the strong bunkering industry that remained through the year as consumer spending on goods online kept the industry afloat. Stocks sank by 8.7% in the week to Monday, the lowest level since February 2019.
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