DTN Oil Update
Oil Futures Mixed on Trump's Comments and EIA Data
HOUSTON (DTN) -- February NYMEX WTI futures contract and March ICE Brent futures contract rose Friday morning reversing losses from the previous trading session after President Donald Trump urged Saudi Arabia and OPEC to release withheld oil production to reduce global oil prices.
Friday morning, the bullish sentiment was driven by lower crude inventories and a drop in refining running rates, as reported by the Energy Information Administration on its Weekly Petroleum Status Report on Thursday, Jan. 23.
Commercial crude oil inventories in the U.S. dropped by 1.0 million bbl to 411.7 million bbl in the week ended Jan. 17, the EIA said.
Downstream, gasoline stocks climbed by 2.3 million bbl week-over-week to reach 245.9 million bbl on low seasonal buying interest, while distillate fuel stocks fell by 3.1 million bbl to 128.9 million bbl last week due to demand driven by severe cold weather affecting the U.S.
The EIA also reported that refinery utilization rates were 85.9%, below 91.7% seen the prior week as multiple refineries have started planned maintenance works across the country.
Phillips 66's 265,000 bpd Sweeney, Texas, refinery is undergoing a 50-day planned turnaround, which started on Jan. 7, "one of the largest turnarounds in our site and company's history," according to a community alert released last week. However, the company did not disclose units that are affected by the turnaround.
Meanwhile, Valero's 205,000 bpd Houston, Texas refinery has started a one-month planned turnaround focused on its fluid catalytic cracking, alkylation unit and some hydrotreating capacity dedicated to gasoline production, according to a Platts report citing a source familiar with the situation.
However, uncertainty persist in the oil futures markets following comments made by President Trump during his virtual intervention at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland Thursday.
Trump asked Saudi Arabia and OPEC to reduce oil prices claiming that this would contribute to end the "Russia-Ukraine war would end immediately."
The expectation of additional supplies from the world's largest oil producer and the OPEC could present an additional setback for oil futures prices this year, as the two main crude oil benchmarks averaged $80 bbl in 2024, driven by ample supplies and sluggish global demand fundamentals.
The February NYMEX WTI futures contract edged up by $0.36 to $74.98 bbl, and the March ICE Brent futures contract edged rose by $0.50 to $78.79. The February RBOB futures contract fell by $0.0051 to $2.0605 gallon while the front-month ULSD futures contract rose by $0.0403 to $2.5118 gallon.
The U.S. Dollar Index dropped by 0.39 to 108.005 against a basket of foreign currencies.
Maria Eugenia Garcia can be reached at Maria.Garcia@dtn.com
