Oil Rallies To 6-Week High On Record 2023 Oil Demand Outlook
The steady recovery rally in energy prices marches on with WTI settling north of $80 for the first time in 6 weeks yesterday and keeping the upward momentum in the early trading Wednesday. RBOB continues to follow through on its technical promise after breaking through resistance last week, moving higher for a 7th straight trading session and plotting a course towards $2.80. ULSD prices are joining the gains this morning after snapping its win streak Tuesday, but are still lagging behind, and haven’t made a real attempt at breaking their January highs.
Today’s gains follow a bullish report from the IEA, which projects that global oil demand will hit a record high this year. Probably the most meaningful quote from the IEA’s report is that “Two wildcards dominate the 2023 Oil Market Outlook: Russia and China.” China is forecast to account for half of global oil demand growth as they reopen from their COVID lockdowns, while Russian supplies continue to prove the creativity of traders around the world.
One notable item in the report was that Russian diesel exports spiked to a multi-year high of 1.2 million barrels/day, most of which went to European countries, as both sides of the war rush to do what they can before the diesel embargo starts in February. That short term excess supply, coinciding with the warm winter weather that’s spared most of Europe and the US East Coast from the feared heating fuel shortages, may have been contributing to the negative start to the year for ULSD, but will not stand in the way of the bulls in a couple of weeks.
Global refinery runs are expected to increase by 1.5 million barrels/day this year, led by the addition of more than 2.2 million barrels/day of refining capacity coming online. Like several other reports in recent weeks, the IEA also shed light on increased export quotas from China, noting that distillate volumes are already landing in Europe since those limits were raised late last year.
Motiva has spun off its trading group to parent company Saudi Aramco. The new entity Aramco Trading America’s or ATA will reportedly be the sole supplier of crude and receiver of products from Motiva’s Port Arthur refinery, which happens to be the largest in the country. There has been no reaction yet from the PGA to this announcement.
A fire injured 6 workers at the P66/Cenovus refinery complex in Borger Texas, the latest in a string of setbacks at that facility. Reports suggest the fire was at the tank farm and not an operating unit, and no report was made of emissions to the TCEQ, so it may not have a long term impact on production. That facility doesn’t influence Gulf Coast trading given its location far to the north, but can have an outsized influence on supplies to New Mexico and Colorado, particularly with the Suncor facility outside of Denver already offline for months due to Christmas blizzard.
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News & Views
View AllEnergy Futures Are Caught Up In Headline Tug-O-War This Morning
Energy futures are caught up in headline tug-o-war this morning with Canadian oil production concerns and a positive US GDP report trying to push prices higher while sinking Chinese demand worries and Gaza ceasefire hopes are applying downward pressure. The latter two seem to be favored more so far this morning with WTI and Brent crude oil futures down ~45 cents per barrel, while gasoline and diesel prices are down about half a cent and two cents, respectively.
No news is good news? Chicago gasoline prices dropped nearly 30 cents yesterday, despite there not being any update on Exxon’s Joliet refinery after further damage was discovered Wednesday. Its tough to say if traders have realized the supply situation isn’t as bad as originally thought or if this historically volatile market is just being itself (aka ‘Chicago being Chicago’).
The rain isn’t letting up along the Texas Gulf Coast today and is forecasted to carry on through the weekend. While much of the greater Houston area is under flood watch, only two refineries are within the (more serious) flood warning area: Marathon’s Galveston Bay and Valero’s Texas City refineries. However, notification that more work is needed at Phillip’s 66 Borger refinery (up in the panhandle) is the only filing we’ve seen come through the TECQ, so far.
Premiums over the tariff on Colonial’s Line 1 (aka linespace value) returned to zero yesterday, and actually traded in the negatives, after its extended run of positive values atypical of this time of year. Line 1’s counterpart, Line 2, which carries distillates from Houston to Greensboro NC, has traded at a discount so far this year, due to the healthy, if not over-, supply of diesel along the eastern seaboard.
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WTI And Brent Crude Oil Futures Are Trading ~$1.50 Per Barrel Lower In Pre-Market Trading
The across-the-board drawdown in national energy stockpiles, as reported by the Department of Energy yesterday, stoked bullish sentiment Wednesday and prompt month gasoline, diesel, and crude oil futures published gains on the day. Those gains are being given back this morning.
The surprise rate cut by the People’s Bank of China is being blamed for the selling we are seeing in energy markets this morning. While the interest rate drop in both short- and medium-term loans won’t likely affect energy prices outright, the concern lies in the overall economic health of the world’s second largest economy and crude oil consumer. Prompt month WTI and Brent crude oil futures are trading ~$1.50 per barrel lower in pre-market trading, gasoline and diesel are following suit, shaving off .0400-.0450 per gallon.
Chicagoland RBOB has maintained its 60-cent premium over New York prices through this morning and shows no sign of coming down any time soon. Quite the opposite in fact: the storm damage, which knocked Exxon Mobil’s Joliet refinery offline on 7/15, seems to be more extensive than initially thought, potentially extending the repair time and pushing back the expected return date.
There are three main refineries that feed the Chicago market, the impact from one of them shutting down abruptly can be seen in the charts derived from aforementioned data published by the DOE. Refinery throughput in PADD 2 dropped 183,000 barrels per day, driving gasoline stockpiles in the area down to a new 5-year seasonal low.
While it seems all is quiet on the Atlantic front (for now), America’s Refineryland is forecasted to receive non-stop rain and thunderstorms for the next four days. While it may not be as dramatic as a hurricane, flooding and power outages can shut down refineries, and cities for that matter, all the same, as we learned from Beryl.