August WTI crude oil (CLQ23) on Friday closed down -1.47 (-1.91%), and Aug RBOB gasoline (RBQ23) closed down -3.49 (-1.30%).
Crude oil and gasoline prices Friday posted moderate losses. Crude oil prices were undercut as the dollar index recovered from a 15-month low and moved higher. Also, technical selling sparked long liquidation in crude futures when crude prices failed to cross above the 200-day moving average.
In a bearish factor for crude oil, the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Thursday cut its global oil demand forecast for this year. The IEA projects global 2023 oil consumption will increase by about 2%, or 2.2 million bpd, down -220,000 bpd from last month's forecast.
Crude prices have support on concerns about global crude supply disruptions after Libya on Thursday was forced to shut production at its 250,000 bpd Sharara oil field and its 70,000 bpd El Feel oil field after protesters entered the projects.
An improvement in Chinese crude demand is bullish for prices after government trade data showed China June crude imports rose +4.6% m/m to 12.72 million bpd, the most in three years.
Hopes for additional stimulus measures from China to revive its economy is bullish for energy demand and crude prices after top officials of the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said Friday that they have enough room to ease monetary policy if needed.
In a supportive factor for oil prices, Saudi Arabia last week said it would extend its unilateral 1 million bpd production cut through August, keeping Saudi Arabia's crude output at about 9 million bpd, the lowest level in several years. Also, Russia pledged last Monday to cut 500,000 bpd of crude output in August voluntarily. However, Russia has yet to implement its pledged crude production cuts fully. Russian crude production cuts totaled 350,000 bpd in June, below the 500,000 bpd of cuts it said it would implement in March. Meanwhile, OPEC crude production in June rose +80,000 bpd to 28.57 million bpd.
An increase in crude in floating storage is bearish for prices. Monday's weekly data from Vortexa shows the amount of crude oil held worldwide on tankers that have been stationary for at least a week rose +5.5% w/w to 112.07 million bbl as of July 7.
Wednesday's EIA report showed that (1) U.S. crude oil inventories as of July 7 were +0.7% above the seasonal 5-year average, (2) gasoline inventories were -7.0% below the seasonal 5-year average, and (3) distillate inventories were -13.4% below the 5-year seasonal average. U.S. crude oil production in the week ended July 7 fell -0.8% w/w to 12.3 million bpd, falling back from the prior week's 3-year high of 12.4 million bpd. U.S. crude oil production is well below the Feb-2020 record-high of 13.1 million bpd.
Baker Hughes reported Friday that active U.S. oil rigs in the week ended July 14 fell by -3 rigs to a 15-month low of 537 rigs. That is well below the 3-1/4 year high of 627 rigs posted on December 2, 2022. U.S. active oil rigs have more than tripled from the 18-year low of 172 rigs seen in Aug 2020, signaling an increase in U.S. crude oil production capacity.
On the date of publication, Rich Asplund did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
