- WTI is up 90c to $65.34/Bbl, and Brent is up 99c to $68.89/Bbl
- Iranian oil exports clog Chinese ports as the country ramps up despite U.S. sanctions
- Chinese imports of Iranian crude will total 856 MBbl/d in March, its most in over two years, according to Bloomberg
- AEGIS notes that returning Iran exports pose one of the largest downside risks for oil prices
- The market received grim storage data reported by the EIA on Wednesday
- The EIA reported a build of (+) 13,798 MBbls for the week ending March 5, well above the estimate of a (+) 333 MBbls draw
- Inventories for the U.S. are now at a surplus of 54.284 MBbls to last year and a surplus of 29.96 MBbls to the five-year average
- OPEC downgrades demand forecasts over the next two years
- The cartel revised its demand forecast to reflect the group would need to pump 690 MBbl/d less crude in 2Q2021
- Output from the group plunged by 647 MBbl/d last month to 24.84 MMBbl/d