Numerous Commodities Have Major Selloff
Risk off seems to be the theme this week as numerous commodities and equity contracts had a major selloff Wednesday and have continued moving lower through the overnight session. Minutes from the FED meeting that suggested the endless pile of money being pumped into the economy might someday end got much of the blame for the selling, and is likely to remain a key driving force in price action for months to come.
The PADD 1 vs. PADD 3 gasoline charts below show the impact of Colonial’s shutdown on supply, while the implied demand chart shows how much extra fuel was pumped into Rubbermaid containers last week.
Despite the jump in total gasoline demand, ethanol inventories ticked slightly higher on the week as output surged to a 14-month-high. This is another example of how the best cure for high prices is high prices, as the producers who were forced to shut their doors when prices collapsed last year are now ramping back up. That situation seems to be a microcosm of the global economy, as the supply chain tries to ramp back up to meet the surge in demand as the world reopens.
U.S. diesel inventories declined for a sixth consecutive week, and are now at their lowest level since April of last year. Unless we see diesel supplies start to climb over the summer, we could be in for a tight supply situation this fall when ag demand kicks in, since traditional diesel demand sources such as mass transit are still not back to pre-COVID levels, and yet total demand is already at average levels, and inventories are near the bottom end of their seasonal range.
Refinery runs held steady in PADDS 2-5 last week, but ticked higher in PADD 1 as East Coast refiners were (finally) able to increase run rates at a profitable level due to the disruption. It will be interesting to watch if those PADD 1 rates drop back over the next couple of weeks as the high RIN values hit margins all over, and the short term disruption is no longer offering additional margin. There have been numerous reports of refinery blips due to the severe weather blanketing the gulf coast this week, but so far all of the disruptions seem to be fairly minor and are not interfering with supplies being shipped to other markets.
RIN values did see some modest selling during Wednesday’s session, but the moves were small compared to what we saw in grain, fuel and equity markets. A federal court sided with the new EPA’s request to vacate three small refinery exemptions Wednesday, which could explain the relative strength while everything else was moving sharply lower. With the selling pressure already underway again this morning, this could be the biggest test yet for the runaway rally that’s added 60 cents to RIN values in just over a month.
Latest Posts
Gasoline Futures Are Leading The Way Lower This Morning
The Sell-Off Continues In Energy Markets, RBOB Gasoline Futures Are Now Down Nearly 13 Cents In The Past Two Days
Week 15 - US DOE Inventory Recap
Prices To Lease Space On Colonial’s Main Gasoline Line Continue To Rally This Week
Social Media
News & Views
View All
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.