- Oil extends losses to trade at nearly three-week lows
- March ’23 WTI lost 61c this morning to trade around $77/Bbl
- Crude prices head for a third-straight monthly loss despite optimism for a recovery in Chinese demand
- OPEC+ is set to meet tomorrow to discuss crude production levels; the group's current output policy is expected to be unchanged (Reuters)
- The market expects the U.S. Fed to raise interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday
- EU and G7 are working on imposing a price cap on Russian fuel exports on February 5, along with sanctions
- Similar sanctions on Russian crude in December don't seem to have reduced flows (still at nearly 3 MMBbl/d), and the nation plans to increase diesel exports next month
- Russia plans more diesel exports next month as EU sanctions kick in (BBG)
- Shipments from Russia’s key Baltic and Black Sea ports are set to surge to 2.74 million tons in February, a 2% hike on January’s planned flows, the highest export rate since January 2020
- However, the EU's ban on Russian refined oil products, which starts on February 5, creates uncertainties about how this would affect Russia's exports, given that the EU has long been Russia's largest market
- Strikes persist at France’s TotalEnergies refineries (BBG)
- The strikes inhibit deliveries of diesel and gasoline from two TotalEnergies SE plants as protests enter their third round this month
- The protests come in the midst of workers' pension disagreements and ahead of the EU's embargo on Russian refined products starting on February 5