Markets debate supply tightness

Oil edged slightly higher on Wednesday as worries of tight supply after an unexpected draw in US oil stocks and a halt to some Iraqi Kurdistan oil exports were partially offset by a smaller-than-expected output cut in Russia.

Brent crude was up 27 cents, or 0.3%, to $78.91 a barrel at 1530 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate US crude rose 48 cents, or 0.7%, to $73.67.

US crude oil stockpiles fell unexpectedly last week, the EIA said on Wednesday, as refineries ramped up operations after maintenance season and US imports fell.

The inventory data come as markets worry about supply tightness after exports of 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude from Iraq’s semi-autonomous northern Kurdistan region were halted on Saturday following an arbitration decision.

On Wednesday, Norwegian oil firm DNO said it had begun shutting down production at its fields in Kurdistan. The company’s Tawke and Peshkabir fields averaged output of 107,000 bpd in 2022, a quarter of total Kurdish exports.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 30^th, 2023.

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