The Commodities Feed: Implications of Positive US Macro Data on Oil Prices and Brent-Dubai Spread

The Commodities Feed: Positive US macro data increases likelihood of further rate hikes

Oil prices came under pressure yesterday despite better-than-expected macro data from the US. The oil market instead is focused on the implications of this stronger data - the potential for further rate hikes.

 

Energy - Brent-Dubai spread flip

The oil market sold off quite aggressively yesterday following a raft of stronger-than-expected data from the US with durable goods orders surprisingly climbing in May. New home purchases also came in much better than expected, whilst consumer confidence rose to its highest level since early 2022. This strong set of data once again suggests that the Fed will likely have to hike rates further, which is obviously aligned with Jerome Powell’s testimony last week. Equity markets took the data as a positive sign. However, the oil market did not. ICE Brent settled almost 2.6% lower yesterday.

 

Overnight the API released weekly US inventory numbers which showed that US crude oil inventories fell by 2.41MMbbls over the last week, which is more than the roughly 1.5MMbbls decline the market was expecting. As for refined products, gasoline inventories fell by 2.85MMbbls, while distillate fuel oil stocks increased by 780Mbbls. The more widely followed EIA report will be released later today.

 

The Brent-Dubai spread has continued to see significant weakness over the last month  - a trend that has been at play since late last year. However, the spread now sees Brent trading at a discount to Dubai. This is fairly unusual, as the Dubai benchmark reflects a lower quality of crude oil relative to Brent. OPEC+ supply cuts have played an important role in the narrowing of the spread, while the expectation that Saudi Arabia may extend its additional voluntary cut of 1MMbbls/d beyond July will also be contributing to the relative strength in Dubai. However, the move in the spread should see Asian buyers looking to the Atlantic Basin for cheaper barrels.