Another Day, Another 60 Cent Swing In Diesel Prices
Another day, another 60 cent swing in diesel prices. Last week, ULSD futures set a record with a 34 cent price increase and a 45 cent trading range in 1 day, and this week, we’ve already seen a 51 cent increase followed by an 60 cent drop this AM. To put that in perspective, there had only been 3 months since 1999 that have experienced a 70 cent trading range, and we’ve already had an 87 cent swing this morning.
Gasoline futures haven’t been quite as volatile as ULSD, but still the past 7 trading days all rank in the top 10 all time for biggest swings on the gasoline contract. West Coast physical gasoline has surged well beyond futures as a rash of new refinery hiccups, and the loss of a crude import option from Eastern Siberia seemed to combine Tuesday to send spot values north of $4/gallon, nearly 80 cents above priced in the middle of the country.
While East Coast gasoline prices are 50 cents or more below their West Coast cousins, there have been multiple terminal outages reported in the past 24 hours as cargoes destined for the US have been diverted to Europe, putting strain on the NYH barge system. These extremes on the coasts create the first real test for US consumers that have railed against receiving Russian crude and product imports, and now are getting their wish.
The API reported a large decline in US diesel inventories last week of nearly 5.5 million barrel, which seemed to help ULSD continue surging to a fresh all-time high late Tuesday afternoon, but is an afterthought this morning as diesel prices now are experiencing their biggest single day drop in history (47 cents) 1 day after they experienced their biggest daily increase of 51 cents. The DOE weekly report will be released at its normal time this morning, and you’ll be forgiven if you don’t pay attention to it.
Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.
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Energy Prices Up Over 2% Across The Board This Morning
Refined product futures traded in an 8-10 cent range yesterday with prompt heating oil settling up ~6 cents and RBOB ending up about flat. Oil prices clawed back some of the losses taken in the first two full trading days of the week, putting the price per barrel for US crude back over the $70 mark. Prices are up just over 2% across the board this morning, signifying confidence after the Senate passed the bipartisan debt ceiling bill last night.
The EIA reported crude oil inventories up 4.5 million barrels last week, aided by above-average imports, weakened demand, and a sizeable increase to their adjustment factor. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve continues to release weekly through June and the 355 million barrels remaining in the SPR is now at a low not seen since September 1983. Exports increased again on the week and continue to run well above last year’s record-setting levels through the front half of the year. Refinery runs and utilization rates have increased to their highest points this year, both sitting just above year-ago rates.
Diesel stocks continue to hover around the low end of the 5-year range set in 2022, reporting a build of about half of what yesterday’s API data showed. Most PADDs saw modest increases last week but all are sitting far below average levels. Distillate imports show 3 weeks of growth trending along the seasonal average line, while 3.7 million barrels leaving the US last week made it the largest increase in exports for the year. Gasoline inventories reported a small decline on the week, also being affected by the largest jump in exports this year, leaving it under the 5-year range for the 11th consecutive week. Demand for both products dwindled last week; however, gas is still comfortably above average despite the drop.
The sentiment surrounding OPEC+’s upcoming meeting is they’re not likely to extend oil supply cuts, despite prices falling early in the week. OPEC+ is responsible for a significant portion of global crude oil production and its policy decisions can have a major impact on prices. Some members of OPEC+ have voluntarily cut production since April due to a waning economic outlook, but the group is not expected to take further action next week.
Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk
Prices Are Mixed This Morning As The Potential Halt In U.S. Interest Rate Hikes
Bearish headlines pushed refined products and crude futures down again yesterday. Prompt RBOB closed the month at $2.5599 and HO at $2.2596 with WTI dropping another $1.37 to $68.09 and Brent losing 88 cents. Prices are mixed this morning as the potential halt in U.S. interest rate hikes and the House passing of the US debt ceiling bill balanced the impact of rising inventories and mixed demand signals from China.
The American Petroleum Institute reported crude builds of 5.2 million barrels countering expectations of a draw. Likewise, refined product inventories missed expectations and were also reported to be up last week with gasoline adding 1.891 million barrels and diesel stocks rising 1.849 million barrels. The market briefly attempted a push higher but ultimately settled with losses following the reported supply increases implying weaker than anticipated demand. The EIA will publish its report at 10am this morning.
LyondellBasell announced plans yesterday to delay closing of their Houston refinery, originally scheduled to shut operations by the end of this year, through Q1 2025. The company “remains committed to ceasing operation of its oil refining business” but the 289,000 b/d facility remaining online longer than expected will likely have market watchers adjusting this capacity back into their balance estimates.
Side note: there is still an ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Two oil refineries located east of Russia's major oil export terminals were targeted by drone attacks. The Afipsky refinery’s 37,000 b/d crude distillation unit was struck yesterday, igniting a massive fire that was later extinguished while the other facility avoided any damage. The attacks are part of a series of intensified drone strikes on Russian oil pipelines. Refineries in Russia have been frequently targeted by drones since the start of the military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.