Another Wave Of Selling Hit The Energy Complex After A Pair Of Potentially Bearish Headlines Hit The Wires Overnight
Another wave of selling hit the energy complex after a pair of potentially bearish headlines hit the wires overnight, but already those losses have been cut in half, suggesting another choppy day of trading ahead. On the supply side, the market seems to be breathing a sigh of relief after Russia announced it would honor its supply commitments to Europe and restart the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline Thursday, along with the customary threats against more sanctions. On the demand side of the equation, rising COVID rates in Asia seem to be contributing to a bearish outlook for fuel consumption over the coming months.
The drop so far does not change the neutral technical outlook, and we’ll need to see another 15-20 cents taken off of refined product prices before the lower end of the July range comes under threat, and based on the back and forth action we’ve seen so far this week it wouldn’t be surprising to see these early losses wiped out in the afternoon. Longer term, IF we do see the July lows taken out, there’s a good chance we could see sub $3 prices later this year, but if the sideways pattern can hold on for another few weeks, there’s a good chance we see another rally heading into the fall.
Natural gas continues to have an outsized impact on the rest of the petroleum complex, particularly ULSD, as distillates are one of the few short term options to supplement electricity generation when gas-burning facilities can’t keep up. A Rystad Energy report this week estimates that the US will surpass previous estimates and shatter production records this year and next as producers are finally able to utilize much of the supply they’ve been sitting on impatiently for the past decade.
The explosion and fire at the Freeport export facility is certainly complicating the movement of that new supply as that plant accounted for roughly 20% of US exports and 10% of European imports, keeping the spread between US and natural gas prices in other parts of the world at elevated levels. A political showdown between environmental and low-price energy advocates may be looming, following reports that the PHMSA could delay restart at the facility due to “safety concerns”.
The API was scheduled to release their weekly inventory statistical bulletin as normal Tuesday afternoon, but as of this writing that data has not been reported. That could mean the API is cracking down on news services publishing it’s subscription only data, or perhaps they’re struggling with IT issues like the EIA did for several weeks, delaying their reports. The EIA is scheduled to release its weekly status report at 9:30 central.
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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.