WTI crude is near unchanged as traders await the announced tariffs on Canada and Mexico after President Trump reiterated his intent to implement them Thursday.
- Trump addressed the press corps, saying “we don’t need the products they have. We have all the oil that you need.” A decision on whether to include crude in tariffs has yet to be announced.
- Valero is well-positioned to find alternative crude sources if the US imposes a 25% tariff on Canadian imports, but this could reduce throughputs by 10%, its COO Gary Simmons said, cited by Argus.
- Oil flows from Russia’s Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga appear to be paused following recent drone attacks by Ukraine, Bloomberg said.
- Gasoline cracks are up 15% this week as the four-week average implied gasoline demand average edged higher to hold just above the five-year average.
- The OPEC JMMC meeting takes place on Feb 3 and the US plan to increase output is to be discussed, according to Kazakhstan’s energy minister. US President Trump has also told the group to increase production to reduce oil prices.
- The USWC has options in case of tariffs on Canada because TWX’s startup has boosted imports of Canadian crude to 170kb/d from 40kb/d, Argus said, citing Vortexa data.
- WTI MAR 25 down 0.2% at 72.57$/bbl
- US gasoline crack up 0.3$/bbl at 14.53$/bbl
- US ULSD crack up 0.3$/bbl at 28.64$/bbl