Yesterday we reported that the price of oil jumped to the second highest level of 2023 amid plunging US inventories…
… and news that Russia had agreed to further oil export cuts.
Today, West Texas Intermediate extended its gain, surging another $2 to $85.55 and hitting the highest level of 2023 – just in time for headline inflation to surge again – amid a barrage of favorable news including the latest drip-drop of Chinese micro stimuli, all of which are useless in isolation yet which guarantee that Beijing will have to pull out a bazooka, but more importantly, that observed crude shipments from Saudi Arabia plunged in August, with flows to most major destinations slumping to multiyear lows as the kingdom limits output.
According to Bloomberg which parsed tanker-tracking data, total exports were about 5.6mm b/d in August, the lowest observed since March 2021, and compared with a revised 6.3mm b/d in July.