Oil & Diesel Prices Attempting Modest Rally
Oil & diesel prices are attempting a modest rally to start the week, on the back of a few bullish headlines over the weekend, but plenty of headwinds remain that might challenge any attempt to sustain a move higher.
There were a variety of headlines from the Middle East over the weekend: Most notably, Saudi Arabia replaced its energy minister with a royal family member, who promptly pledged his commitment to the current output cuts to balance global supplies.
Iran meanwhile announced its long-delayed cargo of oil had finally been delivered, and suggested that they were preparing to release the British tanker they’ve been holding, although details on both stories are scarce. The British tanker release would seem bearish for prices as it temporarily relieves tensions around the world’s busiest oil shipping lanes, while the oil delivery news could be bullish if the Iranians found a new way to get their product to Syria. Bloomberg had an interesting read over the weekend on the challenges of tracking Iranian oil.
We’re in the peak of hurricane season, and after 2 weeks of destruction from Dorian, 3 more potential systems are being watched for development in the Atlantic, in addition to Tropical Storm Gabrielle which poses no threat to the US. The good news is the first 2 systems are only given 20% chances of development by the NHC. The third, which is currently a wave moving over Africa, seems more likely to become a threat sometime next week.
A Reuters article is highlighting the challenges the White House is facing balancing Big Ag and Big Oil interests, which seems to have RIN values rallying off of their lows for the year. There’s still no word on what exactly the EPA or the White House will announce, but there is an expectation that some concession will be made to appease the farm lobby that could be bullish for ethanol, biodiesel and/or their associated RINs.
Baker Hughes reported a decrease of 4 active oil rigs last week, marking a drop of 32 rigs in the past 3 weeks, putting the total US count at 738, its lowest level in nearly 2 years.
Speculators remain cautious on energy prices, with money managers net-long holdings in WTI and Brent remaining below their 5 year averages, although Brent did see a modest increase last week. Those large funds look to be even more critical of refined products as ULSD saw a drop back to a net-short position (betting on lower prices) in the managed money category last week, while RBOB saw another large drop in net-length as the 2019 driving season ended.
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Energy Prices Up Over 2% Across The Board This Morning
Refined product futures traded in an 8-10 cent range yesterday with prompt heating oil settling up ~6 cents and RBOB ending up about flat. Oil prices clawed back some of the losses taken in the first two full trading days of the week, putting the price per barrel for US crude back over the $70 mark. Prices are up just over 2% across the board this morning, signifying confidence after the Senate passed the bipartisan debt ceiling bill last night.
The EIA reported crude oil inventories up 4.5 million barrels last week, aided by above-average imports, weakened demand, and a sizeable increase to their adjustment factor. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve continues to release weekly through June and the 355 million barrels remaining in the SPR is now at a low not seen since September 1983. Exports increased again on the week and continue to run well above last year’s record-setting levels through the front half of the year. Refinery runs and utilization rates have increased to their highest points this year, both sitting just above year-ago rates.
Diesel stocks continue to hover around the low end of the 5-year range set in 2022, reporting a build of about half of what yesterday’s API data showed. Most PADDs saw modest increases last week but all are sitting far below average levels. Distillate imports show 3 weeks of growth trending along the seasonal average line, while 3.7 million barrels leaving the US last week made it the largest increase in exports for the year. Gasoline inventories reported a small decline on the week, also being affected by the largest jump in exports this year, leaving it under the 5-year range for the 11th consecutive week. Demand for both products dwindled last week; however, gas is still comfortably above average despite the drop.
The sentiment surrounding OPEC+’s upcoming meeting is they’re not likely to extend oil supply cuts, despite prices falling early in the week. OPEC+ is responsible for a significant portion of global crude oil production and its policy decisions can have a major impact on prices. Some members of OPEC+ have voluntarily cut production since April due to a waning economic outlook, but the group is not expected to take further action next week.
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Prices Are Mixed This Morning As The Potential Halt In U.S. Interest Rate Hikes
Bearish headlines pushed refined products and crude futures down again yesterday. Prompt RBOB closed the month at $2.5599 and HO at $2.2596 with WTI dropping another $1.37 to $68.09 and Brent losing 88 cents. Prices are mixed this morning as the potential halt in U.S. interest rate hikes and the House passing of the US debt ceiling bill balanced the impact of rising inventories and mixed demand signals from China.
The American Petroleum Institute reported crude builds of 5.2 million barrels countering expectations of a draw. Likewise, refined product inventories missed expectations and were also reported to be up last week with gasoline adding 1.891 million barrels and diesel stocks rising 1.849 million barrels. The market briefly attempted a push higher but ultimately settled with losses following the reported supply increases implying weaker than anticipated demand. The EIA will publish its report at 10am this morning.
LyondellBasell announced plans yesterday to delay closing of their Houston refinery, originally scheduled to shut operations by the end of this year, through Q1 2025. The company “remains committed to ceasing operation of its oil refining business” but the 289,000 b/d facility remaining online longer than expected will likely have market watchers adjusting this capacity back into their balance estimates.
Side note: there is still an ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Two oil refineries located east of Russia's major oil export terminals were targeted by drone attacks. The Afipsky refinery’s 37,000 b/d crude distillation unit was struck yesterday, igniting a massive fire that was later extinguished while the other facility avoided any damage. The attacks are part of a series of intensified drone strikes on Russian oil pipelines. Refineries in Russia have been frequently targeted by drones since the start of the military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.