Saudi stealth

ICE Brent price climbed back to 72.5 $/b at the prompt, as US monthly inflation recorded at 5% for May, likely boosted demand for long-dated commodity futures contracts. Saudi Arabia announced that they rose production by close to 0.4 mb/d in May, but the market remained in an upward momentum phase, as all Middle Eastern OSPs priced a higher premium against benchmarks. Interestingly, despite large diesel imports from Asia, ARA inventories dipped last week by 1.3 mb, a 7% decline, potentially highlighting a return of gasoline demand in North-West Europe.