Crude Up as Sanctions Offset Reopen of Russian Oil Hub


   
Karim Bastati
DTN Analyst

   VIENNA (DTN) -- Crude futures edged higher Monday (11/17) morning as 
concerns over new Russian sanctions maintained the market's upward momentum 
despite news that loading operations had resumed at the Black Sea oil hub 
Novorossiysk after a two-day outage.

   On Friday (11/14), oil prices rose more than 2% after a Ukrainian strike 
briefly suspended operations at the terminal, which exports more than 700,000 
bpd of Russian crude oil.

   The resumption in loadings at Novorossiysk, however, did not fully alleviate 
concerns around Russian crude supply, as U.S. President Trump on Sunday 
reiterated his support for secondary sanctions on buyers of Russian energy, 
backing a proposed Senate bill that would impose sanctions "on any country 
doing business with Russia".

   The NYMEX WTI contract for December delivery was up $0.30 at $60.39 bbl, and 
ICE Brent for January delivery edged up $0.26 to $64.65 bbl.

   Among refined products,  December RBOB gasoline futures softened by $0.0027 
to $2.0089 gallon, and front-month ULSD futures retreated $0.0117 to $2.5194 
gallon.

   The U.S. Dollar Index strengthened by 0.091 points to 99.290 against a 
basket of foreign currencies.

   Ukrainian attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure continued over the 
weekend, reportedly striking two refineries. Global refining margins have 
surged amid the wave of strikes on the Russian downstream sector, which led to 
severe fuel shortages and prompted the country to extend fuel export bans.

   European and Asian middle distillate cracks have rocketed to seven-year 
highs, and relative strength in ULSD amid soft crude oil prices led the 3:2:1 
crack spread versus WTI to best the record highs reached in May 2022 amid 
Europe's shunning of Russian oil following the invasion of Ukraine.

   The U.S., meanwhile, is set for a macroeconomic data heavy week. Several 
important macroeconomic indicators, delayed by the U.S. government shutdown and 
whose absence has complicated deliberations on monetary policy by the Federal 
Reserve, are scheduled for release this week.

   The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis will publish 
data on U.S. imports and exports for August on Wednesday (11/19). The U.S. 
Bureau of Labor Statistics is set to release the Employment Situation report 
for September, originally scheduled for October 3, on Thursday (11/20), 
followed by the Real Earnings report for September on Friday.




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