WTI Spikes On Surprise Crude Draw As Gasoline Demand Hits Record High

WTI rallied overnight, in the face of dollar gains, as Iran supply fears reignited, dominating API inventory builds across the board, and spiked notably after DOE reported a bigger-than-expected 2.566mm crude draw.

But bear in mind that seasonal refinery maintenance is about to start, which will “begin to affect the crude stocks and refined product output”, Kyle Cooper, a consultant at ION Energy, says

API

DOE

Crude inventories fell for the 2nd week in a row…

Crude production was unchanged last week (remember, the data only moves in 100k increments now, so unless a decent shift, then no change occurs).

East Coast weekly crude imports dropped to their lowest since 2015.

And Gasoline Demand hit a record high…

After a brief dip on last night’s API report, WTI has surged overnight – bucking the stronger dollar – to trade around $69 as DOE data hit, then spiked higher, breaking resistance…

U.S. sanctions on Iran are “already starting to materialize”, said Bjarne Schieldrop, Oslo-based chief commodities analyst at SEB AB.“This is driving up the physical crude-oil market, shifting the Brent crude curve into backwardation”.

Meanwhile, the pipeline problems in the Permian have smashed the discounts to other sources near record highs…