Reports Suggest Stimulus Deal Is Within Reach
Oil prices managed to briefly trade up to fresh nine-month highs overnight, but have since pulled back and are moving sideways in early morning trading. Optimism for faster vaccine rollouts and more stimulus continue to be the themes getting credit for the rally in energy and equity markets, while weak supply/demand fundamentals and the threat of more lockdowns seem to be providing a dose of caution keeping the upward momentum in check.
The API reported more inventory builds last week. The largest was in distillates, which saw an increase of 4.7 million barrels, while crude oil stocks built by 1.9 million, and gasoline stocks increased by 828,000. The DOE’s report is due out at 9:30 central, and after last week’s huge 15 million barrel increase in crude oil inventories (the second largest increase in 20 years) it seems likely we may see a large headline draw as the import/export flow rebalances, and importers begin their year-end storage-at-sea to avoid taxes.
The FED’s open market committee wraps up its last meeting of 2020 today. The CME’s FEDWatch tool shows that the market is pricing in a 0% probability of an interest rate increase at this meeting. Not only do traders not expect rates to go up now, they are giving a 0% probability of a rate hike all the way through June as it’s expected the FED will do everything it can to keep the economy rolling. Speaking of which, while rate changes aren’t expected, the FOMC statement will be parsed for any clue on potential new monetary policy tools that could be used to help bridge the economy until the vaccine spreads faster than COVID itself, but with Congress gridlocked, we may see the fed put pressure on legislators by suggesting fiscal stimulus is what’s needed near term.
Speaking of fiscal stimulus, reports suggest a deal is within reach, which of course we’ve heard several times over the past month. One thing to watch closely is the numerous taxes that may be tied to the package, such as renewable energy credits, and the federal oil spill fee which is set to expire 12/31.
Speaking of the Federal Oil spill fee. It looks like we could see that tax brought before the supreme court in the coming year as a federal court has ruled that oil exporters should not be charged that tax, and the IRS appears to be ready to fight back against any refund requests.
If you need a reminder of the giant scale of a modern refinery, take a look at the article and photos of the hydrotreater being delivered to the P66 refinery outside of St. Louis this week. That plant is scheduled to undergo a major turnaround in the next few months, which apparently includes installation of this new unit.
Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.
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Gasoline Futures Are Leading The Energy Complex Higher This Morning With 1.5% Gains So Far In Pre-Market Trading
Gasoline futures are leading the energy complex higher this morning with 1.5% gains so far in pre-market trading. Heating oil futures are following close behind, exchanging hands 4.5 cents higher than Friday’s settlement (↑1.3%) while American and European crude oil futures trade modestly higher in sympathy.
The world’s largest oil cartel is scheduled to meet this Wednesday but is unlikely they will alter their supply cuts regimen. The months-long rally in oil prices, however, has some thinking Saudi Arabia might being to ease their incremental, voluntary supply cuts.
Tropical storm Rina has dissolved over the weekend, leaving the relatively tenured Philippe the sole point of focus in the Atlantic storm basin. While he is expected to strengthen into a hurricane by the end of this week, most projections keep Philippe out to sea, with a non-zero percent chance he makes landfall in Nova Scotia or Maine.
Unsurprisingly the CFTC reported a 6.8% increase in money manager net positions in WTI futures last week as speculative bettors piled on their bullish bets. While $100 oil is being shoutedfromeveryrooftop, we’ve yet to see that conviction on the charts: open interest on WTI futures is far below that of the last ~7 years.
Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.
The Energy Bulls Are On The Run This Morning, Lead By Heating And Crude Oil Futures
The energy bulls are on the run this morning, lead by heating and crude oil futures. The November HO contract is trading ~7.5 cents per gallon (2.3%) higher while WTI is bumped $1.24 per barrel (1.3%) so far in pre-market trading. Their gasoline counterpart is rallying in sympathy with .3% gains to start the day.
The October contracts for both RBOB and HO expire today, and while trading action looks to be pretty tame so far, it isn’t a rare occurrence to see some big price swings on expiring contracts as traders look to close their positions. It should be noted that the only physical market pricing still pricing their product off of October futures, while the rest of the nation already switched to the November contract over the last week or so.
We’ve now got two named storms in the Atlantic, Philippe and Rina, but both aren’t expected to develop into major storms. While most models show both storms staying out to sea, the European model for weather forecasting shows there is a possibility that Philippe gets close enough to the Northeast to bring rain to the area, but not much else.
The term “$100 oil” is starting to pop up in headlines more and more mostly because WTI settled above the $90 level back on Tuesday, but partially because it’s a nice round number that’s easy to yell in debates or hear about from your father-in-law on the golf course. While the prospect of sustained high energy prices could be harmful to the economy, its important to note that the current short supply environment is voluntary. The spigot could be turned back on at any point, which could topple oil prices in short order.
Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.
Gasoline And Crude Oil Futures Are All Trading Between .5% And .8% Lower To Start The Day
The energy complex is sagging this morning with the exception of the distillate benchmark as the prompt month trading higher by about a penny. Gasoline and crude oil futures are all trading between .5% and .8% lower to start the day, pulling back after WTI traded above $95 briefly in the overnight session.
There isn’t much in the way of news this morning with most still citing the expectation for tight global supply, inflation and interest rates, and production cuts by OPEC+.
As reported by the Department of Energy yesterday, refinery runs dropped in all PADDs, except for PADD 3, as we plug along into the fall turnaround season. Crude oil inventories drew down last week, despite lower runs and exports, and increased imports, likely due to the crude oil “adjustment” the EIA uses to reconcile any missing barrels from their calculated estimates.
Diesel remains tight in the US, particularly in PADD 5 (West Coast + Nevada, Arizona) but stockpiles are climbing back towards their 5-year seasonal range. It unsurprising to see a spike in ULSD imports to the region since both Los Angeles and San Francisco spot markets are trading at 50+ cent premiums to the NYMEX. We’ve yet to see such relief on the gasoline side of the barrel, and we likely won’t until the market switches to a higher RVP.