Russel Hardy, CEO of the world's largest oil trader Vitol, also said on March 22 customers did not want to buy Russian oil.
Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. LP entered a settlement with the Justice Department to resolve allegations that it violated the Clean Air Act and state pollution laws at three of its petrochemical facilities along the Texas Gulf Coast.
U.S. crude stocks in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) fell to 577.5 million barrels, the lowest since July 2002.
RED President Steve Hendrickson examines the U.S. imports of Russian crude and petroleum products plus the likelihood of losing those volumes.
Oil marched relentlessly higher beyond $110/bbl on March 2, responding to a flood of divestment from Russian oil assets by major companies and expectations that the market will remain short of supply for months to come.
“The Cushing situation is getting worrisome,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC. “That's supportive of the contract.”
Cushing’s importance to the market has waned in recent years as producers send more inventories to the U.S. Gulf for export, but it is still notable as it is the delivery point for U.S. crude futures.
Overall, the mild softness in oil demand witnessed in early January due to the Omicron coronavirus variant seems to have passed, analysts say.
Distillate shortfalls will continue to exert upward pressure on oil prices until Saudi Arabia and U.S. shale producers raise their output faster, or more likely until the economy enters a slowdown, writes Senior Market Analyst John Kemp.
“As we drift towards the three-year low in U.S. storage levels, it justifies the pop we are seeing in the market,” said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho.