- Iran escalates negotiation tensions by refusing to give nuclear site images to International Atomic Energy Agency
- Iran had submitted to a three-month monitoring pact in February, which allowed limited monitoring on its nuclear activities, serving as a stop-gap measure that gave negotiators time to reach an agreement
- If Iran is unwilling to extend the pact then it will likely complicate the negotiations, and delay any meaningful return of Iranian crude
- According to Reuters, on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said “any failure by Tehran to extend the monitoring agreement would be a serious concern for broader negotiations”
- Baker Hughes’ oil-directed drilling rig count decreased by one, to bring the total oil rig count to 372
- The report stated the year-on-year figures reflect a 184-unit increase in oil rigs
- Rigs targeting oil in the Permian Basin fell by 1 to 236
- U.S. refining capacity drops 4.5% to 18.13 bbl/d from a record 18.98 million bbl/d a year earlier (EIA)
- The drop was the largest since 2012 and the first annual decline since 2018 when capacity was reduced by 18,530
- A combined five refineries, totaling 801,146 bbl/d of capacity were permanently closed following a 1.3 million bbl/d drop in gasoline demand caused by the pandemic
- Recovery in European jet fuel demand won’t fully return to pre-COVID-19 levels until 2030, according to FGE
- FGE sees jet fuel demand in Europe reaching 75% of 2018-2019 levels at the end of 2022
- The consultancy estimates that European refining capacity will shrink by 700,000 bbl/d due to the closures announced for 2020 and 2021
- Western Canadian Select settled at $59.28/bbl on Friday, the highest since hitting $59.74/bbl in November 2014 (Argus)
- Synthetic Canadian crude output fell for three consecutive months ending in March, but producers still combined for 1.24mn bbl/d in Q1, the highest quarterly output on record according to Alberta Energy Regulator