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Thu 17 May 2018, 07:23 GMT

Oil at three-and-a-half-year high on inventory deviations, geopolitical uncertainty


By A/S Global Risk Management.


Michael Poulson, Global Risk Management.
Image credit: Global Risk Management
The weekly oil inventory report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) yesterday showed a larger-than-expected draw in crude and gasoline inventories and completely in the opposite direction of the weekly oil stocks data from the American Petroleum Institute (API), and this supported oil prices. Brent increased by $1 following the EIA release. Markets are increasingly focusing on potential shortage of supplies as global inventories are shrinking.

EIA crude oil inventories: -1.1404M barrels (-0.763M expected) API crude oil inventories: 4.854M barrels (-1.850M previous)

In its monthly oil market report, published yesterday, the International Energy Agency (IEA) lowered its global oil demand growth forecast for this year by 0.1 mio. barrels per day (bpd) to 99.2 mio. bpd. Supplies are currently 98 mio. bpd, but according to the IEA: "non-OPEC growth... will grow by 1.87 mio. bpd in 2018". The reason for the revision of demand growth could be the increasing oil prices, which could dampen consumption. According to the agency, global inventories have dropped below the 5-year average - which was a goal for the current oil production cut agreement - for the first time since 2014.

Turning to economic data, today's main potential market mover is the U.S. Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index along with a couple of Fed member speeches. Other than that, no major releases.

BP  

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Brazilian supplier restarts marine fuel supply after completing an inspection following an electricity outage.

Stena E-Flexer vessel render. Stena RoRo orders battery-ready E-Flexer 2.0 ferries from Chinese yard  

Vessels include diesel engines capable of running on biodiesel and are methanol-ready.

BW Gemini vessel. Nord Gas Solutions to supply cargo and fuel systems for eight BW LPG VLGCs  

Gas-handling systems specialist awarded contract for new 90,000-cbm vessels.

Kingston Trader vessel. TFG Marine fits mass flow meter to Jamaica-bound bunker barge  

Kingston Trader becomes the first Caribbean bunkering vessel with mass flow metering as TFG Marine’s fleet coverage nears 90%.

Sebastian Vasquez and Camilo Angulo Ferrand, Monjasa. Monjasa announces full-chain marine fuel operations in Cartagena  

Monjasa says it now covers the entire marine fuel supply chain in Colombia, from oil wells to ship-side deliveries.

Steel-cutting ceremony for vessel with builder's hull no. H619. Ceremonies held for Van Oord’s methanol-hybrid rock installation vessels  

Two ships advance through parallel construction at China’s CIMC Raffles shipyard.

WK NatPower and AREL MoU signing. Wah Kwong NatPower signs MoU to explore Hong Kong marine electrification  

Venture will examine shore power, vessel charging and electric vessel deployment around Aberdeen’s waterfront.

Vard 4 39 design render. Dong Fang Offshore orders CSOV with battery-hybrid propulsion  

Vard secures fifth newbuild contract from Taiwanese firm, with delivery scheduled for 2028.

Rock Star vessel. CSL and OWL launch first subsea rock installation vessel for offshore wind  

MV Rock Star can run on MGO and methanol and is designed to support scour protection and cable burial for offshore wind projects.

François Michel and Andy McKeran. Lloyd’s Register study backs 200,000-cbm LNG carriers for fleet renewal  

Analysis finds larger LNG carriers could cut transport costs while retaining access to most major terminals.


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