US Slowly Replenishing Strategic Petroleum Reserve
January 22, 2024
The US bought 3.2 million barrels of crude oil for the SPR as it continues to slowly replenish the reserve after selling a record amount following Rusia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Baker Hughes Rig Count have oil rigs down 2 to a total of 497 oil rigs, the lowest level since Mid-November. Last year at this time there were 613 oil rigs in operation but despite the decline in rigs the US is producing near all-time highs.
Yemen’s Houthis have said they did not intend to expand their attacks on shipping in and around the Red Sea further, beyond their stated aims of blocking Israel and retaliating against the United States and Britain for air strikes. Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam said the group had no plans to target longstanding foes Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
North Dakota’s State Pipeline Authority reported that about 30% of the state’s oil output remained shut in due to extreme cold weather and operational challenges. Oil output was estimated to be down 350,000 bpd to 400,000 bpd due to the cold weather. This compared with a production outage of 500,000 bpd to 550,000 bpd on Thursday of last week.
Energy prices were down on Friday due to worse than expected Q4 2023 economic growth from China raising doubts about China leading global oil demand growth in 2024. The Chinese equity markets fell down this week near a 5-year low.