OIL: Oil End of Day Summary: WTI Rangebound on Week

Mar-14 18:17

WTI is higher today, leaving it rangebound on the week and ending eight weeks of declines. Further US sanctions on Iranian oil have added support, offsetting the return of OPEC+ barrels and tentative optimism towards a potential ceasefire in Ukraine.

  • WTI APR 25 up 0.9% at 67.13$/bbl
  • Trump posted on social media that talks with Putin yesterday were “productive”, while Nato Sec. Gen Rutte said that is optimistic that fighting in Ukraine would stop ‘this year’.
  • Putin-'We See Some Progress' with The US, according to Media reports.
  • Barclays on Friday lowered its 2025 Brent oil price forecast by $9/bbl to $74/bbl, citing a softer demand outlook amid elevated economic uncertainty.
  • Sub-$60 Oil Would Undercut US Shale Production, Citigroup Says
  • The IEA revised oil demand growth down to 1.03mb/d to 103.9mb/d this year, citing a deterioration in macroeconomic conditions amid rising trade tensions.
  • US oil rig count according to Baker Hughes: 487 (1) - down 22 rigs, or 4.3% on the year.
  • Heavy sour differentials in the Americas are set to strengthen further over Q2, Kpler said, as the one-month only wind-down period for Chevron’s Venezuela accelerates its output decline.
  • Two Chinese state oil companies are halting purchases of Russian oil this month, Reuters sources said.
  • Kazakhstan shows no signs so far of cutting production to meet OPEC+ quota despite latest promises: FGE.
  • There has been no further progress on restarting Kurdish flows via the Ceyhan pipeline, MEES said.
  • Iranian crude flows to China are expected to remain robust for the time being, according to Kpler.

Historical bullets

GLOBAL: Trump Details Call With Ukraine's Zelenskyy, Meeting Set for Friday

Feb-12 18:14
  • Latest from Trump on his call with Zelenskyy (via Truth social):
  • "I just spoke to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine. The conversation went very well. He, like President Putin, wants to make PEACE. We discussed a variety of topics having to do with the War, but mostly, the meeting that is being set up on Friday in Munich, where Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead the Delegation. I am hopeful that the results of that meeting will be positive."

US TSY FUTURES: BLOCK: March'25 30Y Ultra-Bond Sale

Feb-12 18:13
  • -2,000 WNH5 118-07, post time bid at 1306:10ET, DV01 $373,000. The 30Y Ultra contract trades 118-08 last (-1-14).

FED: Atlanta's Bostic: Cuts Base Case But Uncertainty Could Mean Later Action

Feb-12 18:11

Atlanta Fed President Bostic (slight hawkish leaning, non-2025 voter) says in a Q&A following Wednesday's surprisingly strong January CPI print that the Fed isn't "in a hurry" to cut rates, echoing some of his colleagues' comments in the past couple of weeks. Importantly, his rate cut outlook appears to be roughly in line with the overall FOMC median voter's.

  • He says "we all have to sit tight, and we're sitting tight too. Until we have more clarity, it's going to be impossible to make a judgement about where our policy should go, how fast and at what pace. We're just going to have to get more information before we're going to be able to move on that.. We're not in a hurry. We'll move when we have enough information to move."
  • Bostic said that his estimate of neutral rates is 3%-3.5% (he has cited this estimate previously) and his baseline is that inflation gets to 2% in early 2026. On rates, "we get halfway there by the end of this year and finish it off in 2026. The uncertainty for me has caused me to be less confident that I know when we're going to be able to take that first step and might have a mindset that patience suggests it will happen later than otherwise."
  • That trajectory is consistent with the FOMC December SEP median of 50bp of cuts this year and 50bp next year to 3.25-3.50%.
  • He said that the latest inflation numbers show that careful monitoring is still needed, while he also noted that the labor market is still performing "incredibly" well.

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