Drivers Fuel Up Ahead Of Memorial Day Weekend

Market TalkMonday, May 24 2021
Pivotal Week For Price Action

Energy prices are moving higher for a second straight session, putting the risk of a technical breakdown in prices on hold, as we begin what is traditionally one of the busiest demand weeks of the year as driver fuel up ahead of Memorial Day weekend.

Four more oil rigs were put to work last week according to Baker Hughes’ rig count, marking a third straight week of increases. Most notable for the week was that the additional rigs all came in Oklahoma (which only has roughly 1/10th the active rigs as Texas) with gains recorded in three different shale plays in the greater Woodford basin.  

Money managers reduced their net length in oil contracts for a second week, but added to their length in refined products. The large speculative class of trader is now holding more net length (betting more on higher prices) in diesel contracts (HO and Gasoil) than they have in 2.5 years. Fundamentally it’s hard to argue with those positions as diesel demand has already returned to pre-covid levels in the U.S., and more mass transit, rail and trucking demand is expected to come online over the next several months. On the other hand, when money manager positions get too far in either direction, it’s seen as a contrary indicator as the big money has already been spent and there’s less money to keep pushing prices higher. 

It’s hard to know who or what to believe with the Iran negotiations, but it looks less likely this morning that a deal is going to get done that would allow sanctions to be lifted and more oil to be produced and exported.

New life for the Convent Refinery? A Baton Rouge firm has bid $1.25 billion to buy the shuttered refinery from Shell. Don’t get your hopes up just yet though as a $1.75 billion bid was already rejected by Shell last year, and the would-be buyer (American Clean Energy Refining) is an unknown name in the industry, which could mean this bid is more pipe-dream than reality. Speaking of which, a Bloomberg article highlights why the green hydrogen dream for refiners isn’t  making much progress yet.

Tropical storm Ana formed over the weekend, but has since weakened and does not pose a threat to the U.S. That’s the seventh straight year a storm has been named before the official start of Hurricane season, which makes you wonder who picks the season. We are expected to see above normal storm activity this year, and the supply chain has already been battered year while demand is picking back up, leaving the system vulnerable to disruption should a storm hit the Gulf Coast. 

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Pivotal Week For Price Action
Market TalkThursday, Mar 28 2024

Energy Markets Are Ticking Modestly Higher Heading Into The Easter Weekend With Crude Oil Prices Leading The Way Up About $1.25/Barrel Early Thursday Morning

Energy markets are ticking modestly higher heading into the Easter Weekend with crude oil prices leading the way up about $1.25/barrel early Thursday morning, while gasoline prices are up around 2.5 cents and ULSD futures are about a penny.

Today is the last trading day for April HO and RBOB futures, an unusually early expiration due to the month ending on a holiday weekend. None of the pricing agencies will be active tomorrow since the NYMEX and ICE contracts are completely shut, so most rack prices published tonight will carry through Monday.

Gasoline inventories broke from tradition and snapped a 7 week decline as Gulf Coast supplies increased, more than offsetting the declines in PADDs 1, 2 and 5. With gulf coast refiners returning from maintenance and cranking out summer grade gasoline, the race is now officially on to move their excess through the rest of the country before the terminal and retail deadlines in the next two months. While PADD 3 run rates recover, PADD 2 is expected to see rates decline in the coming weeks with 2 Chicago-area refineries scheduled for planned maintenance, just a couple of weeks after BP returned from 7 weeks of unplanned repairs.

Although terminal supplies appear to be ample around the Baltimore area, we have seen linespace values for shipping gasoline on Colonial tick higher in the wake of the tragic bridge collapse as some traders seem to be making a small bet that the lack of supplemental barge resupply may keep inventories tight until the barge traffic can move once again. The only notable threat to refined product supplies is from ethanol barge traffic which will need to be replaced by truck and rail options, but so far that doesn’t seem to be impacting availability at the rack. Colonial did announce that they would delay the closure of its underutilized Baltimore north line segment that was scheduled for April 1 to May 1 out of an “abundance of caution”.

Ethanol inventories reached a 1-year high last week as output continues to hold above the seasonal range as ethanol distillers seem to be betting that expanded use of E15 blends will be enough to offset sluggish gasoline demand. A Bloomberg article this morning also highlights why soybeans are beginning to displace corn in the subsidized food to fuel race.

Flint Hills reported a Tuesday fire at its Corpus Christi West facility Wednesday, although it’s unclear if that event will have a material impact on output after an FCC unit was “stabilized” during the fire. While that facility isn’t connected to Colonial, and thus doesn’t tend to have an impact on USGC spot pricing, it is a key supplier to the San Antonio, Austin and DFW markets, so any downtime may be felt at those racks.

Meanwhile, P66 reported ongoing flaring at its Borger TX refinery due to an unknown cause. That facility narrowly avoided the worst wildfires in state history a few weeks ago but is one of the frequent fliers on the TCEQ program with upsets fairly common in recent years.

Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk, including all charts from the Weekly DOE Report.

Pivotal Week For Price Action
Market TalkWednesday, Mar 27 2024

Week 12 - US DOE Inventory Recap

Pivotal Week For Price Action
Market TalkWednesday, Mar 27 2024

Most Energy Contracts Are Ticking Lower For A 2nd Day After A Trickle Of Selling Picked Up Steam Tuesday

Most energy contracts are ticking lower for a 2nd day after a trickle of selling picked up steam Tuesday. ULSD futures are down a dime from Monday’s highs and RBOB futures are down 7 cents.

Diesel prices continue to look like the weak link in the energy chain, with futures coming within 1 point of their March lows overnight, setting up a test of the December lows around $2.48 if that resistance breaks down. Despite yesterday’s slide, RBOB futures still look bullish on the weekly charts, with a run towards the $3 mark still looking like a strong possibility in the next month or so.

The API reported crude stocks increased by more than 9 million barrels last week, while distillates were up 531,000 and gasoline stocks continued their seasonal decline falling by 4.4 million barrels. The DOE’s weekly report is due out at its normal time this morning.

RIN values have recovered to their highest levels in 2 months around $.59/RIN for D4 and D6 RINs, even though the recovery rally in corn and soybean prices that had helped lift prices off of the 4 year lows set in February has stalled out. Expectations for more biofuel production to be shut in due to weak economics with lower subsidy values seems to be encouraging the tick higher in recent weeks, although prices are still about $1/RIN lower than this time last year.

Reminder that Friday is one of only 3 annual holidays in which the Nymex is completely shut, so no prices will be published, but it’s not a federal holiday in the US so banks will be open.

Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.