Crude Oil
Crude Oil prices once again closed slightly lower yesterday. Brent rallied at $52.14 /bbl, down 23 cents and WTI settled 22 cents lower $49.17 /bbl.
The overall trend of the market, notwithstanding two down days, remains cautiously bullish. The primary evidence in support for this is the statistics from the CFTC which suggested that traders increased their long positions to increase net speculative length. However, there seems to be little to suggest that this bullishness is runaway.
Even a significant crude draw reported by API has failed to enthuse fresh buying. Investors appear to be taking into consideration the fact that the driving season is approaching an end and we could well see builds going forward.
Further, the continued compliance of OPEC / non OPEC suppliers to the planned cut of 1.8 mbpd production remains a matter of scepticism. With higher prices incentivising shale oil production / hedging into 2018, there does not seem much upside from a fundamental point of view.
API data
The American Petroleum institute reported that crude stocks fell by a huge 7.84 million barrels last week. However, stocks at Cushing, the main point of supply, built by 319 kb. This is the first time we are seeing a build being reported at Cushing in a long time.
Gasoline stocks too were reported as higher by 1.53 million barrels. Distillate stocks were marginally lower by 157 KB.
Today being a holiday in Singapore, there is no report on Asia Products
About this blog
This blog post attempts to give a top level summary of the Singapore market goings on to a person who seeks to obtain a directional sense of the market on a daily basis.
Disclaimer : All the views are the author’s personal views. These do not constitute an advice to buy or sell any commodity