Brent crude futures rose in early Asian trading ahead of the release of weekly crude oil inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
As of 12:00 Beijing time, the price of the October contract of Brent crude oil futures was US$81.21 per barrel, up 52 cents from the settlement price on August 13, while the closing price of the contract on the 13th was US$1.61 lower than the previous trading day.
The September contract price of WTI crude oil futures was $78.91 per barrel, up 56 cents from the settlement price on August 13. The closing price of the contract on the 13th was $1.71 lower than the previous trading day.
The EIA reported last week that U.S. crude inventories fell by 3.7 million barrels in the week to Aug. 2, even as domestic production hit a record high and U.S. Gulf Coast inventories fell to a seven-month low.
According to data from oil analytics firm AlphaBBL, crude oil inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma, U.S. crude oil terminal fell to a six-month low last week, while inventories at the main Texas terminal rose. Cushing inventories fell by 2 million barrels to 29.1 million barrels in the week ending August 9, the lowest level since February 2. Total inventories at the main Texas terminal increased by 900,000 barrels from the previous week to 51.1 million barrels.
Libyan crude oil supplies to the Es Sider export terminal have been disrupted by a fire in a pipeline connecting storage tanks to the oil fields, traders and shipping agents told Argus. The fire, which was extinguished on August 13, affected a pipeline 30 kilometers south of the Es Sider crude storage facility, operator Waha Oil said. The Es Sider terminal is located in the east of the country and is connected to the Sirte Basin in the heart of Libya's oil fields. The specific impact of the fire on crude oil exports will depend on the severity of the damage. According to operational reports seen by Argus, Waha Oil produced 261,000 barrels per day of crude oil on August 12, while 271,000 barrels per day of crude oil flowed to the terminal through its pipeline system.
The IEA has cut its global refining runs forecast for this year, adding that worsening oil product margins and an intense hurricane season could further weigh on refinery run rate growth. Its latest Oil Market Report forecasts global refining capacity at 83.3 million barrels per day this year, down from 83.4 million barrels per day in its July Oil Market Report. It expects refining capacity to be 83.9 million barrels per day in 2025. The IEA cut its refining capacity growth forecast for the second month in a row, to 840,000 barrels per day this year and 600,000 barrels per day in 2025.
(The above content comes from the latest views of Argus, an independent international energy and commodity price assessment agency)
The article is forwarded from: Jinshi Data