- Oil heads for a fifth consecutive weekly gain as the supply tightens
- September ’23 WTI gains 2c this morning to trade around $80/Bbl
- Oil saw a five-week rally driven by signs of tighter supplies by Saudi and Russian output cuts
- US economic growth exceeded expectations, and there's speculation that the Fed is near or at the end of its tightening cycle
- Meanwhile, China commits to additional stimulus measures to bolster growth in the world's largest crude importer
- Inventories at Cushing, OK, fell by 7.5 MMBbl/d in the past four weeks, pushing the stocks to their lowest since May, supporting the widening backwardation of WTI
- Russia intends to meet oil export cut pledge in August, says Energy Minister Shulginov (Bloomberg)
- Russia cut oil exports in July to fulfill the OPEC+ pledge, and intends to do so again in August, reports Tass, quoting Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov
- Deputy Prime Minister Novak, earlier this month, had announced a reduction of 0.5 MMBbbl/d in August to stabilize the global market
- In line with the pledge, Russian crude exports dropped to 2.73 MMBbl/d in the week leading up to July 23, largely driven by a decline in exports from Western ports on the Baltic and Black Seas
- This figure is 1.48 MMBbl/d lower than the peak exports recorded in the final week of April, as per Bloomberg’s ship tracking
- US Retail gasoline prices surge to eight-month high amid low inventories and refinery shutdown
- US retail gasoline prices have soared to an eight-month high, hitting $3.714/Gal on Thursday – an increase of 13.4c from the last week, according to AAA
- The EIA reported a 0.8 MMBbl/d drop in gasoline inventories last week, its lowest seasonal level since 2015
- An estimated four-week repair closure of Exxon Mobil's Baton Rouge refinery unit (0.25 MMBbl/d) further fueled the price rally