From Nasdaq:

A shipment of 10,000 barrels of Russian oil entered the U.S., despite its ban. Bloomberg’s Javier Blas speculates the oil may have been shipped to the Bahamas before March 2022 and then blended with oil from other destinations to dilute its origin, ensuring it was excluded from the U.S. ban (Benzinga).

Oil prices were affected by Fed comments, dropping 2.7% and 1.4% overnight. The U.S. Nymex WTI crude oil was at $76.29 a barrel and Brent crude was at $80.99. The United States Oil Fund (USO) fell 2.6% on Wednesday and rallied nearly 1% on Thursday to $71.60 (Benzinga).

Weekly inventory data showed a bearish outlook for oil prices, with crude stocks increasing by 1.2 million barrels and global production rising for a third successive month to 27.9 million barrels a day, according to a Reuters report (Benzinga).

Shell was the first global major to report fourth-quarter earnings, with a significant beat in profitability due to a strong operational performance and growth in LNG trading. Although revenues missed expectations, Shell’s shares traded on the London Stock Exchange were up 2.5%, and ADRs traded on the NYSE were up 2.3% in pre-market trade (Benzinga).

The rest of the majors are set to report earnings in the coming days. ExxonMobil and Chevron report on Friday, BP has its Q4 earnings call on February 6, TotalEnergies reports on February 7, and ConocoPhillips on February 8 (Benzinga).



Read more: Russian Oil Hits US Shores Under Sanction-Busting Loophole