WTI rallied overnight, in the face of dollar gains, as Iran supply fears reignited, dominating API inventory builds across the board, and spiked notably after DOE reported a bigger-than-expected 2.566mm crude draw.

But bear in mind that seasonal refinery maintenance is about to start, which will “begin to affect the crude stocks and refined product output,” Kyle Cooper, a consultant at ION Energy, says

API

• Crude +38k (-1.49mm exp)

• Cushing +130k (+50k exp)

• Gasoline +21k

• Distillates +982k

DOE

• Crude -2.566mm (-1.49mm exp)

• Cushing +58k (+50k exp)

• Gasoline -1.554mm

• Distillates -837k

Crude inventories fell for the 2nd week in a row…

Crude production was unchanged last week (remember, the data only moves in 100k increments now, so unless a decent shift, then no change occurs).

East Coast weekly crude imports dropped to their lowest since 2015.

And Gasoline Demand hit a record high…

After a brief dip on last night’s API report, WTI has surged overnight – bucking the stronger dollar – to trade around $69 as DOE data hit, then spiked higher, breaking resistance…

U.S. sanctions on Iran are “already starting to materialize,” said Bjarne Schieldrop, Oslo-based chief commodities analyst at SEB AB. “This is driving up the physical crude-oil market, shifting the Brent crude curve into backwardation.”

Meanwhile, the pipeline problems in the Permian have smashed the discounts to other sources near record highs…