2 Days Of Heavy Selling That Rank Top 5 All Time For Refined Products
After 2 days of heavy selling that rank top 5 all time for refined products, we saw a quiet overnight session as a different kind of Brexit dominated the news, followed by a modest rally attempt just before 8am.
The summer price drop has been severe, wiping out half of the 7 month rally in less than a month, and leaves the complex susceptible to more selling short term even though there are signs that we may be setting up for a period of consolidation after the rally finally broke.
The first test for gasoline and diesel prices will come in the early hours of trading to determine if the modest overnight gains can hold, or if another wave of selling will hit after trading activity picks up as we’ve seen the past couple of days.
The API reported a build in crude oil inventories of 3.8 million barrels (thanks in large part to another 6 million barrels released from the SPR) while gasoline and diesel inventories both had small declines last week.
The EIA is still catching up on its data releases after 3 weeks of delays caused by hardware issues with its servers. The weekly status report should be back to normal this morning, and the weekly gasoline and diesel price update (which many companies use for their fuel surcharge tables) will be released later this afternoon with 3 weeks’ worth of data, before resuming its normal schedule next week.
The big pullback in product prices has knocked nearly $20/barrel off of basic crack spreads after they reached record highs 2 weeks ago. The good news is that despite a pullback of nearly 50 cents/gallon, current margin levels are still plenty high to encourage US refiners to keep running full out with most averaging north of $30/barrel, which is more than double the average for this time of year.
The Los Angeles spot market has seen the worst of the selloff this week, with spot values for CARBOB gasoline down 67 cents in 2 sessions, compared to “only” a 45 cent drop for RBOB futures as West Coast inventories sit above the top end of their seasonal range. In addition, China has increased its export quotas, which should allow its underutilized refineries a chance to cash in on the big margins globally, and could end up meaning more options for West Coast buyers.
Group 3 diesel prices have resisted the sell-off, rallying to a 40 cent premium over futures – the after months of being one of the weakest values in the country left shippers with an easy choice to send their barrels to other parts of the world instead of the Midwest.
Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.
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Energy Futures Are Caught Up In Headline Tug-O-War This Morning
Energy futures are caught up in headline tug-o-war this morning with Canadian oil production concerns and a positive US GDP report trying to push prices higher while sinking Chinese demand worries and Gaza ceasefire hopes are applying downward pressure. The latter two seem to be favored more so far this morning with WTI and Brent crude oil futures down ~45 cents per barrel, while gasoline and diesel prices are down about half a cent and two cents, respectively.
No news is good news? Chicago gasoline prices dropped nearly 30 cents yesterday, despite there not being any update on Exxon’s Joliet refinery after further damage was discovered Wednesday. Its tough to say if traders have realized the supply situation isn’t as bad as originally thought or if this historically volatile market is just being itself (aka ‘Chicago being Chicago’).
The rain isn’t letting up along the Texas Gulf Coast today and is forecasted to carry on through the weekend. While much of the greater Houston area is under flood watch, only two refineries are within the (more serious) flood warning area: Marathon’s Galveston Bay and Valero’s Texas City refineries. However, notification that more work is needed at Phillip’s 66 Borger refinery (up in the panhandle) is the only filing we’ve seen come through the TECQ, so far.
Premiums over the tariff on Colonial’s Line 1 (aka linespace value) returned to zero yesterday, and actually traded in the negatives, after its extended run of positive values atypical of this time of year. Line 1’s counterpart, Line 2, which carries distillates from Houston to Greensboro NC, has traded at a discount so far this year, due to the healthy, if not over-, supply of diesel along the eastern seaboard.
Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.
WTI And Brent Crude Oil Futures Are Trading ~$1.50 Per Barrel Lower In Pre-Market Trading
The across-the-board drawdown in national energy stockpiles, as reported by the Department of Energy yesterday, stoked bullish sentiment Wednesday and prompt month gasoline, diesel, and crude oil futures published gains on the day. Those gains are being given back this morning.
The surprise rate cut by the People’s Bank of China is being blamed for the selling we are seeing in energy markets this morning. While the interest rate drop in both short- and medium-term loans won’t likely affect energy prices outright, the concern lies in the overall economic health of the world’s second largest economy and crude oil consumer. Prompt month WTI and Brent crude oil futures are trading ~$1.50 per barrel lower in pre-market trading, gasoline and diesel are following suit, shaving off .0400-.0450 per gallon.
Chicagoland RBOB has maintained its 60-cent premium over New York prices through this morning and shows no sign of coming down any time soon. Quite the opposite in fact: the storm damage, which knocked Exxon Mobil’s Joliet refinery offline on 7/15, seems to be more extensive than initially thought, potentially extending the repair time and pushing back the expected return date.
There are three main refineries that feed the Chicago market, the impact from one of them shutting down abruptly can be seen in the charts derived from aforementioned data published by the DOE. Refinery throughput in PADD 2 dropped 183,000 barrels per day, driving gasoline stockpiles in the area down to a new 5-year seasonal low.
While it seems all is quiet on the Atlantic front (for now), America’s Refineryland is forecasted to receive non-stop rain and thunderstorms for the next four days. While it may not be as dramatic as a hurricane, flooding and power outages can shut down refineries, and cities for that matter, all the same, as we learned from Beryl.