Oil prices were steady Friday morning after hitting 26-month high this week, driven by the tensions spiked by Kurdish Regional Government referendum. Brent <LCOc1> was trading slightly higher by 3 cents from the previous settle at $57.44/bbl as of 9:00 AM UKT. WTI <CLc1> was down by 3 cents from the settle, trading at $51.53/bbl at the same time.
The PJK reported a 338,000 mt increase in total oil product stocks stored in the ARA-hub to 5.7 million mt in the week ending 22nd August, supported by the increase in last week’s refinery margins in Rotterdam. The largest weekly increase came from fuel oil, with stocks increasing by 187,000 mt or 17% w-o-w, to 1.3 million mt following two consecutive weeks of declines.
Gasoline stocks slightly increased last week, up by 24,000 mt or 3% w-o-w, standing at 839,000 mt. Gasoil stocks, which include diesel and heating oil, marginally increased last week by 17,000 mt or 0.65%, to 2.6 million mt, remaining at very low inventory levels. Jet fuel stock increased last week by 105,000 mt or 17.4%, marking the fourth consecutive week of inventories increases.
The Oil Research Team
Supply Chain & Commodities Research