Mobility takes a toll

Brent prompt futures remained at 54.7 $/b on early Thursday. Mobility across Europe and the US is reportedly lower in early January as most countries are ramping-up healthcare measures to contain the pandemic. Asian available refining capacity dropped by about 370 kb/d for the latter part of January as incidents and planned maintenance capped Japanese and Indian refining capacity. Finally, physical crude buying remains unequal as West African crude trading remained limited this week following Saudi Arabia’s decision to cut production. At the same time, high trading activities in the North Sea point to cautious western refiners eager to secure supplies ahead of time.