Black Friday Price Plunge in Energy Futures
A Black Friday price plunge in energy futures is being pared back in early Monday trading as most physical players return to their desks after the long holiday weekend. Refined product futures are up 3-4 cents on the day so far, meaning cash markets will only drop 3-4 cents from Wednesday should current values hold. The Friday selling was blamed on jitters ahead of the OPEC & Friends meeting this week, although the early recovery rally suggests it may have had more to do with a lack of liquidity than anything else.
The CFTC’s weekly Commitments of Traders report was delayed due to the holiday, so we won’t get a look at NYMEX holdings until this afternoon. Speculators did increase their bets on higher prices for Brent last week, indicating a growing appetite for risk as prices reached 2 month highs. No doubt those new longs were not enjoying Friday’s meltdown in prices, but may be breathing a sigh of relief if they held on until this morning.
Baker Hughes reported 3 more oil rigs were taken off-line in the US last week, a 6th consecutive weekly decline in the rig count. The slowdown in drilling activity has been well documented over the past several months, but it’s important to note that in-spite of the slowdown in new wells being drilled, US production just reached a new all-time high last week of 12.9 million barrels/day. Keep in mind that’s 1.2 million barrels/day more than the all-time record set this time a year ago, and it’s easy to see why the US remains on track to become a net exporter of petroleum after decades of being the world’s largest importer.
Speaking of changing petroleum trade dynamics, a new natural gas pipeline running from Russia to China has commenced operations, in the latest major shift to the East for Russian firms trying to avoid US sanctions.
We are now less than a month away from the official start of the IMO diesel spec change for ships. While the market reaction has been muted thus far, it’s worth noting that US diesel stocks are holding near the low end of their 5 year seasonal range, putting much of the country at risk of price spikes if there’s a surge in demand.
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.