Energy Markets Starting August Trading With A Thud

Market TalkThursday, Aug 1 2019
Energy Prices Treading Water

Energy markets are starting August trading with a thud, with crude prices down a dollar or more and products down 3-4 cents, as disappointment in the FED seems to be outweighing inventory draws reported by the DOE.

The FED did announce its first interest rate cut in a decade Wednesday, but financial markets threw a small tantrum that it was only 25 points, and perhaps more importantly that the FED chairman said this was not the first of many. That late selling in equities carried over into the energy arena as product prices dropped 1-2 cents post settlement, and that weakness carried through the overnight session. One other reason for concern in the FED’s rate cut: Look at the chart below and note that more often than not, when the FED starts cutting rates, there’s a recession in the not-too-distant future.

Dramatic video of an explosion at the Exxon Baytown refinery – the 3rd largest refinery in the US – had futures and cash markets rallying briefly Wednesday morning. When it was discovered the fire was contained to the chemical plant section of the refinery and that gasoline and diesel production may not be affected however, prices quickly settled back down.

Notable items from the DOE weekly status report:

US crude production bounced back by 900,000 barrels/day last week as rigs shuttered by Hurricane Barry came back online. The total is now just 100,000 barrels from the all-time high.

US petroleum demand estimates dipped on the week, but are holding above their seasonal range. The EIA also announced that electricity demand had reached a two year high this week as a heat wave swept across the US, which could bring some much-needed incremental diesel demand to supplement traditional power generation sources.

A big deal was announced Wednesday when the UK’s EG Group announced its planned acquisition of Cumberland Farms’ C-Store Chain, after buying Kroger’s C-Stores last year. An interesting side note to this story, the British pound has been plunging recently, largely due to Brexit concerns, which means the actual purchase price for the acquirers may be rising rapidly even though the dollar amount isn’t changing.

Two storm systems continue to churn in the Atlantic. The first still looks like a non-event, but the second is now given a 70% chance of developing over the next 5 days. That system – known for now as 96-L – will need to be watched over the next week as there is a window in which it could be steered towards the US.

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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.

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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.