Petrol

Canada has recorded its first trade surplus in six months, defying forecasts of a deficit thanks to surging oil and gold prices. Canada’s merchandise trade balance swung to a $1.78 billion surplus in March against expectations of a shortfall of $2.88 billion, with total exports rising 8.5% to $72.8

Iran has cut oil production by roughly 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) as exports stall and storage runs out, according to U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright. “It looks like they’ve likely already cut back their production, maybe by 400,000 barrels a day,” Wright said in an interview on Thursday. “The

Canada’s oil sands can grow, but getting the barrels out of the country is a problem. This is a constraint that has defined the sector for years. President Scott Stauth told analysts the industry needs a West Coast export line to unlock meaningful growth. “We need that pipeline to be able to grow oi

Crude Oil markets staged a sharp intraday reversal on Thursday, with WTI futures briefly tagging lows below $90 a barrel before clawing back above $93, while Brent slid toward $95 before recovering to reclaim the $100 handle.

Chinese fuel trader HY Energy is suing U.S. banking giants JP Morgan and Citigroup for blocked payments to a Chinese oil firm a year before the latter was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury for dealing with Iranian oil, Bloomberg reports. HY Energy, a regional fuel trader in eastern China, alleges in t

Global crude oil and fuel inventories are crashing at a record speed as the supply shock from the Middle East is too big to absorb without stock depletion. While the futures markets trade on sentiment and hopes that a U.S.-Iran deal could soon lead to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the actua

The war in Iran and the subsequent loss of LNG supply from the Middle East are altering the medium-term outlook of global natural gas balances, with tighter markets set to last longer than previously expected, a senior official at the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday. The Middle Ea

An Iranian energy official just conceded something in a surprise admission that the US naval blockade has begun to bite the Islamic Republic's oil industry. According to new reporting in the NY Times: The blockade has halted Iran’s oil exports, choking off crucial revenues, and the country risks run

The Cabinda oil refinery in Angola, the first that was built in the country since it gained independence from Portugal 50 years ago, has started shipping fuels to the domestic and international markets, in a relief to the fuel supply stress due to the Iran war. Prior to Cabina, Angola had only one o

TD Securities strategist Bart Melek highlights that the Strait of Hormuz disruption has removed 9–10 million bbl/d from the market, keeping Brent near $100/bbl and potentially pushing it above $150/bbl.

USD/CAD trades around 1.3630 on Thursday at the time of writing, showing little change on the day, as lower Oil prices continue to weigh on the Canadian Dollar (CAD) while the US Dollar (USD) remains pressured as well.

ING’s Ewa Manthey and Warren Patterson note that industrial metals, including Copper, rallied on Wednesday as progress towards a US-Iran deal improved risk appetite and eased fears of an energy shock, before paring gains on Thursday.

The New Zealand Dollar (NZD) keeps marching higher at two-month highs against the US Dollar (USD) on Thursday, as reports of progress in the US-Iran peace deal and lower Oil prices keep demand for the safe-haven US Dollar subdued.

Front-month Brent Crude futures dropped to below $100 per barrel again in morning trade in Europe on Thursday, reversing earlier gains, as the market hopes the U.S. and Iran could be able to reach an agreement that would eventually reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Following a steep selloff on Wednesday,

OCBC strategists Sim Moh Siong and Christopher Wong characterize recent moves in Asian FX as a relief rally driven by lower Oil and hopes of a US–Iran deal. They stress that any agreement and normalization of flows through the Strait of Hormuz remain uncertain.