Oil commentary - 28 March 2023

Morning all and say hello to Tuesday. Hiiiiii Tuesdayyyy. Brent is trading this morning at $78.03 up 0.25 and WTi is trading up 0.40 at $73.22. Greetings from Athens. I have single handedly tried to increase jet fuel demand over the course of March so any distillate traders out there - you are welcome. I always find airports fascinating - Colin and Joyce for eg, enjoying a “sensible” glass of wine at 0630 before they are “off to see the kids” thousands of miles away. Kids scooting on those god forbidden suitcases bashing in to your ankles and ruining your hiking plans for said holiday. But for me it was seeing the sheer volume of people waiting for their flights. I’d argue I have never seen Dubai airport so busy as it has been this month. A bellwether for jet fuel demand? You bet your bottom dollar. Speaking of demand stories - another one this morning to stoke the fire in all things bovine, “China's crude oil imports are expected to rise 6.2% in 2023 to 540 million tonnes”. This is going to be key to see if it pans out as forecast, but will certainly be one of the main drivers of sentiment in energy markets this year. Then of course we had the news from Iraq at the weekend that shipments of KRG crude oil have been halted for delivery through Ceyhan. This has knocked out approx 400kbpd of crude oil supply and in a market that is worried about supply, Brent could be back heading to the comfort bosom of $80-$90 per barrel before Colin can say “Quick one before we take off Joyce?”. Good day.