Oil prices are up more than $1 to $82.40, heading for a weekly gain
Saudi Arabia is expected to raise prices of its Arab Light crude grade to Asia by 10c in May
Following yesterdays EIA storage report US crude inventories are now 2% below the five-year average
OPEC+ cuts appear to be working (BBG)
Crude prices have been strengthening this year as supply cuts from OPEC have combined with stronger-than-expected demand
Brent has risen more than 11% since the start of the year to trade above $85/Bbl
OPEC is unlikely to announce any changes to policy at their April 3 meeting, which will focus primarily on reviewing the recent output cuts
Gunvor Group recently forecast crude prices rallying towards $90/Bbl, while Trafigura said their focus has shifted to “upside risk” in oil markets
Canadian crude flows to Los Angeles surge (BBG)
Three tankers carrying 1.74 MMBbls of heavy crude from Canada’s west coast have arrived in Southern California
The oil was purchased by Marathon, likely due to delays at two Mexican export terminals hindering supplies of Zapoteco crude
This could be a sign that more Canadian crude will be shipped to the US West Coast once the Transmountain pipeline begins operations
Venezuelan tankers have been stuck (BBG)
A group of tankers loaded with about 8 MMBbls of Venezuelan oil has been stuck for several months now off the county’s coast
The ships may be idling due to complications from sanctions, which are set to resume in April
Natural gas prices trade higher ahead of the storage report
May ’24 Henry Hub is up 2c this morning to trade around $1.738/MMBtu
The Winter ‘24/’25 strip is up 1.4c to $3.326, and the Summer ’25 strip is up 1c to $3.267
Today's Euro Ensemble forecasts a warmer trend in the Midwest and South Central, with continued overall warming into mid-April
March 2024 Lower 48 gas volumes are set to average around 99.92 Bcf/d, likely due to a mix of production declines by majors and maintenance outages
Vitol reports significant growth in LNG trading amid global market realignment (NGI)
Vitol saw its natural gas and LNG business expand in 2023, trading 19% more natural gas and 24% more LNG than in 2022, with around 17 mmty of LNG cargoes shipped in 2023
The increase in LNG flow to Europe in 2023 reached half of the global LNG market volume of 2010, said Vitol CEO Russell Hardy, highlighting the market's rapid evolution following Europe's need to replace Russian gas
Vitol is expanding its North American LNG supply with several key deals, including increasing its 1.4 mmty offtake from Cheniere Energy's Gulf Coast terminals while partnering with EOG Resources and Chesapeake Energy for a combined 2.25 mmty in LNG
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