CRUDE WRAP: WTI (X6) SETTLES USD 1.04 HIGHER AT 90.42/BBL

The crude complex saw gains, recovering earlier losses, amid seemingly little progress on US-Iran talks while the Abqaiq oil city in Saudi Aarabia was attacked by the Houthis. WTI and Brent hit lows of USD 88.58/bbl and USD 95.12/bbl, respectively, in the European morning as they initially extended Tuesday's losses. However, benchmarks soon reversed, with some citing the FlyDubai incident as the initial catalyst, although it was later reported to involve a rogue pilot who was tackled by other pilots and passengers. There was otherwise little headline-specific news at the time to explain the recovery despite plenty of geopolitical newsflow, although it was later reported that the Houthis attacked the Abqaiq oil city in eastern Saudi Arabia during the afternoon. Trump reiterated that developments regarding Iran will be seen very soon and said there have been historic flows of oil out of Hormuz over the past three days.

On the supply front, sources suggested OPEC+ producers are set to keep output targets unchanged at Sunday's meeting. Meanwhile, in the weekly EIA data, crude stocks saw a slightly larger build than expected, while both distillates and gasoline posted larger-than-expected draws. Overall, weekly crude production rose 16k BPD W/W to 13.955mln BPD.

Meanwhile, many were reporting the Kpler data that showed crude oil exports from the Strait of Hormuz has basically returned to levels seen before the Iran war, thanks to US military escorts boosting shipments and pipelines redirecting flows. Kpler noted that crude transiting the Straight reached a seven-day average of 13.5mln BPD as of Monday. Regarding the Middle East as a whole, including the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, Kper data found shipments are sometimes higher than pre war levels - reaching a seven-day average f 19.5mln BPD, above the pre-war baseline of 17mln BPD. However, JPMorgan emphasised although crude shipments have normalised, refined product supplies remain constrained.