Crude Oil heads into second downbeat trading day ahead of API

LONDON (December 17) Crude Oil is extending losses by more than 1% at the start of the US trading session after news that Pemex – the Mexican state-owned Oil producer – has fully resumed operations in all its platforms in the Gulf region. The news comes with the end of the annual hurricane season and improving weather conditions, which means more supply is set to come online. That supply will be enough to match the decline in Russian Seaborne Crude which shrunk by 11% since October due to maintenance at one of the country's main export terminals.  

The US Dollar Index (DXY) – which measures the performance of the US Dollar (USD) against a basket of currencies – is up against nearly every major currency this Tuesday. The move is still being fueled by the preliminary US Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) release for December, which showed that the economy expanded at the steepest pace in 33 months driven by the services sector. Meanwhile, traders brace for the Retail Sales release on Tuesday and the Federal Reserve rate decision on Wednesday. 

At the time of writing, Crude Oil (WTI) trades at $69.30 and Brent Crude at $72.66

Oil news and market movers: API could sink it

• Pemex’s Oil platforms and all crude-exporting terminals are operating normally after weather conditions improved in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a statement from the group, Bloomberg reports.
• The EU has imposed sanctions on Dutch national Niels Troost. Troost allegedly was involved in trading Russian Oil above the price cap set by Western countries in response to Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the FT reports.
• Around 21:30 GMT, the American Petroleum Institute (API) will release its weekly Crude Stock Pile numbers for the week of December 13. Last week, there was a build of 0.499 million barrels. 
• Russian seaborne crude shipments are falling. Bloomberg reports shipments fell by about 11% since October, with maintenance work at one of the country’s main export terminals pushing flows even lower in recent weeks. 

FXStreet