Bret Isn’t Expected To Impact Major Population Centers/ American Petroleum Institute Showing A Rise In National Gasoline Inventories

Energy futures are sinking this morning after yesterday’s rally, pointing to the seemingly omnipresent, if somewhat ambiguous, worries of a slowdown in global economic growth. In what looks awfully similar to mundane profit-taking, RBOB futures are down ~2.5% to start the day, followed by WTI and HO trading down 2% and 1%, respectively.

The hurricane that wasn’t: tropical storm Bret continues to churn in the western Atlantic and is projected to make landfall in the Lesser Antilles by tomorrow. The storm isn’t currently forecast to attain hurricane status as it passes into the Caribbean, however it is expected to strengthen as it continues westward. Bret isn’t expected to impact major population centers and/or energy infrastructure as it passes so eyes are now turning to its successor, affectionately named Tropical Depression Four, which is pointed at the Eastern Seaboard, but is still over a week away from making potential landfall.

Yesterday afternoon the American Petroleum Institute published their energy inventory estimates for last week, most notably showing a draw in national gasoline inventories of 2.9 million barrels. Our stockpile of oils were also projected lower with crude down 1.2 million barrels and distillates dropping 300,000 barrels. The Department of Energy’s official report is due out at 10am CDT this morning.

A slew of headlines surrounding the Renewable Fuel Standard and related programs were published yesterday. The EPA finalized their RIN compliance volume targets for 2023-2025, which saw a decrease in required Cellulosic, Advanced, and Renewable credits for 2024 and 2025. D4 and D6 RIN prices sank yesterday, each reaching the lowest levels seen in over a year. The EPA also announced its plans to meet with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the next month or so, aiming to crack down on market manipulators the agency claims to have evidence of.

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