Bulls Own Control Of Energy Prices
The bulls have control of energy prices this week as Brent crude is making a run at $50, while WTI and ULSD futures are both threatening eight month highs, despite some of the most bearish inventory we’ve seen since the spring.
Yesterday’s DOE report showed the second largest weekly inventory build for U.S. crude oil stocks of the past 20 years, but after a few minutes of selling, the market resumed its slow and steady march higher, keeping the bullish trend intact. While the momentum clearly favors more upside near-term, as the market seems focused on where the economy should be next year rather than looking at the struggles it faces today, we’re approaching some critical technical resistance that will prove pivotal in the weeks to come.
The 15 million barrel build in crude oil stocks was shocking at first, but quickly shrugged off as an anomaly due to exports hitting a two year low last week, while imports surged by more than a million barrels a day, accounting for an 18 million increase in domestic stocks. Refinery rates were actually up, and trade flows are expected to normalize, suggesting this huge build will not last long. In addition, we’re approaching the 12/31 property tax deadline in TX, where a huge proportion of the country’s oil is stored, and companies will hold what they can off shore to avoid getting hit with extra taxes, so we may see a dramatic reversal in the import/export flows in the coming weeks.
Perhaps even more bearish than the crude oil build was the drop in demand for refined products, and the corresponding inventory builds. It’s not unusual to see gasoline stocks rise this time of year, but the pace of the increases, and the rapid demand destruction of the past two weeks, suggests we’ll soon reach another breaking point where refiners will be forced to make more rate cuts. Speaking of which, lost in the big headline builds, was a decline in U.S. refining capacity of 230mb/day, which dropped the country’s total to the lowest level in four years. This was the second decline of this size so far this year (the first was when the PES capacity was finally removed from the weekly report) and marks the biggest annual decline in over a decade. This decline is not over however as there are still several more plants scheduled to be taken out of service in the coming year.
Another parting shot in the political battle over oil drilling: The outgoing White House administration is opening up California oil leases for the first time in eight years. The question is, given the current price environment, and the Golden State’s war on refiners, will anyone be interested in buying?
Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.
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Gasoline Futures Are Leading The Way Lower This Morning
It was a volatile night for markets around the world as Israel reportedly launched a direct strike against Iran. Many global markets, from equities to currencies to commodities saw big swings as traders initially braced for the worst, then reversed course rapidly once Iran indicated that it was not planning to retaliate. Refined products spiked following the initial reports, with ULSD futures up 11 cents and RBOB up 7 at their highest, only to reverse to losses this morning. Equities saw similar moves in reverse overnight as a flight to safety trade soon gave way to a sigh of relief recovery.
Gasoline futures are leading the way lower this morning, adding to the argument that we may have seen the spring peak in prices a week ago, unless some actual disruption pops up in the coming weeks. The longer term up-trend is still intact and sets a near-term target to the downside roughly 9 cents below current values. ULSD meanwhile is just a nickel away from setting new lows for the year, which would open up a technical trap door for prices to slide another 30 cents as we move towards summer.
A Reuters report this morning suggests that the EPA is ready to announce another temporary waiver of smog-prevention rules that will allow E15 sales this summer as political winds continue to prove stronger than any legitimate environmental agenda. RIN prices had stabilized around 45 cents/RIN for D4 and D6 credits this week and are already trading a penny lower following this report.
Delek’s Big Spring refinery reported maintenance on an FCC unit that would require 3 days of work. That facility, along with several others across TX, have had numerous issues ever since the deep freeze events in 2021 and 2024 did widespread damage. Meanwhile, overnight storms across the Midwest caused at least one terminal to be knocked offline in the St. Louis area, but so far no refinery upsets have been reported.
Meanwhile, in Russia: Refiners are apparently installing anti-drone nets to protect their facilities since apparently their sling shots stopped working.
Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.
The Sell-Off Continues In Energy Markets, RBOB Gasoline Futures Are Now Down Nearly 13 Cents In The Past Two Days
The sell-off continues in energy markets. RBOB gasoline futures are now down nearly 13 cents in the past two days, and have fallen 16 cents from a week ago, leading to questions about whether or not we’ve seen the seasonal peak in gasoline prices. ULSD futures are also coming under heavy selling pressure, dropping 15 cents so far this week and are trading at their lowest level since January 3rd.
The drop on the weekly chart certainly takes away the upside momentum for gasoline that still favored a run at the $3 mark just a few days ago, but the longer term up-trend that helped propel a 90-cent increase since mid-December is still intact as long as prices stay above the $2.60 mark for the next week. If diesel prices break below $2.50 there’s a strong possibility that we see another 30 cent price drop in the next couple of weeks.
An unwind of long positions after Iran’s attack on Israel was swatted out of the sky without further escalation (so far anyway) and reports that Russia is resuming refinery runs, both seeming to be contributing factors to the sharp pullback in prices.
Along with the uncertainty about where the next attacks may or may not occur, and if they will have any meaningful impact on supply, come no shortage of rumors about potential SPR releases or how OPEC might respond to the crisis. The only thing that’s certain at this point, is that there’s much more spare capacity for both oil production and refining now than there was 2 years ago, which seems to be helping keep a lid on prices despite so much tension.
In addition, for those that remember the chaos in oil markets 50 years ago sparked by similar events in and around Israel, read this note from the NY Times on why things are different this time around.
The DOE’s weekly status report was largely ignored in the midst of the big sell-off Wednesday, with few noteworthy items in the report.
Diesel demand did see a strong recovery from last week’s throwaway figure that proves the vulnerability of the weekly estimates, particularly the week after a holiday, but that did nothing to slow the sell-off in ULSD futures.
Perhaps the biggest next of the week was that the agency made its seasonal changes to nameplate refining capacity as facilities emerged from their spring maintenance.
PADD 2 saw an increase of 36mb/day, and PADD 3 increased by 72mb/day, both of which set new records for regional capacity. PADD 5 meanwhile continued its slow-motion decline, losing another 30mb/day of capacity as California’s war of attrition against the industry continues. It’s worth noting that given the glacial pace of EIA reporting on the topic, we’re unlikely to see the impact of Rodeo’s conversion in the official numbers until next year.
Speaking of which, if you believe the PADD 5 diesel chart below that suggests the region is running out of the fuel, when in fact there’s an excess in most local markets, you haven’t been paying attention. Gasoline inventories on the West Coast however do appear consistent with reality as less refining output and a lack of resupply options both continue to create headaches for suppliers.