A Wild January Comes To A Close
A wild January is coming to a close with energy prices clinging to small gains, and trying to avoid another wave of selling that has brought diesel prices to 17 month lows.
While equity futures are pointing lower again as the outbreak continues to grow, energy futures are clinging to small gains after new reports of violence across the MENA region remind us that there still are supply fears that could send prices higher, in addition to the demand fears that have taken over the headlines.
Fighting has resumed in Libya after cease-fire talks broke down. Roughly 750,000 barrels/day of oil exports have been taken offline as a result of this most recent flare up.
Saudi Arabia: Another attack on Aramco’s facilities was reportedly stopped last week. No impact on supplies was reported due to this latest attack.
Persian Gulf: An oil tanker caught fire west of the Strait of Hormuz. Still unclear if this was another attack like we saw last summer, or just a creative effort by the crew – who have been stuck on board for a year due to an ownership dispute – to get off the boat.
Earnings releases this week from several major oil producers and refiners shows a tough operating environment, with many reporting year on year declines in earnings, and several announcing plans to divest more assets as a result. Refiners are noting narrower crude differentials this year as a reason for lower profits, as new pipelines have eliminated the transportation bottleneck in W. Texas. For those plants that have access to Western Canadian crude, the picture is a bit brighter as those spreads have been widening again, although they’re still only half as wide as they were in 2018.
With product spreads crumbling in January, and most crude spreads not offering a bail out, it’s no wonder that we’re seeing more and more reports of elective run cuts at refiners this week.
Today’s captain obvious award: The EIA’s report that risk of oil supply disruptions can have an immediate effect on oil prices. Thanks for that.
Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.
Latest Posts
Week 48 - US DOE Inventory Recap
The API Reported Gasoline Inventories Dropped By 898,000 Barrels Last Week
Values For Space On Colonial’s Main Gasoline Line Continue To Drop This Week
After Another Black Friday Selloff Pushed Energy Futures Sharply Lower In Last Week’s Holiday-Shortened Trading
Social Media
News & Views
View All
Week 48 - US DOE Inventory Recap
The API Reported Gasoline Inventories Dropped By 898,000 Barrels Last Week
Gasoline and oil prices are attempting to rally for a 2nd straight day, a day ahead of the delayed OPEC meeting, while diesel prices are slipping back into the red following Tuesday’s strong showing.
The API reported gasoline inventories dropped by 898,000 barrels last week, crude inventories declined by 817,000 barrels while distillates saw an increase of 2.8 million barrels. Those inventory stats help explain the early increases for RBOB and WTI while ULSD is trading lower. The DOE’s weekly report is due out at its normal time this morning.
A severe storm on the Black Sea is disrupting roughly 2% of the world’s daily oil output and is getting some credit for the bounce in futures, although early reports suggest that this will be a short-lived event.
Chevron reported that its Richmond CA refinery was back online after a power outage Monday night. San Francisco spot diesel basis values rallied more than a dime Tuesday after a big drop on Monday following the news of that refinery being knocked offline.
Just a few days after Scotland’s only refinery announced it would close in 2025, Exxon touted its newest refinery expansion project in the UK Tuesday, with a video detailing how it was ramping up diesel production to reduce imports and possibly allow for SAF production down the road at its Fawley facility.
Ethanol prices continue to slump this week, reaching a 2-year low despite the bounce in gasoline prices as corn values dropped to a 3-year low, and the White House appears to be delaying efforts to shift to E15 in an election year.
Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.
Values For Space On Colonial’s Main Gasoline Line Continue To Drop This Week
The petroleum complex continues to search for a price floor with relatively quiet price action this week suggesting some traders are going to wait and see what OPEC and Friends can decide on at their meeting Thursday.
Values for space on Colonial’s main gasoline line continue to drop this week, with trades below 10 cents/gallon after reaching a high north of 18-cents earlier in the month. Softer gasoline prices in New York seems to be driving the slide as the 2 regional refiners who had been down for extended maintenance both return to service. Diesel linespace values continue to hold north of 17-cents/gallon as East Coast stocks are holding at the low end of their seasonal range while Gulf Coast inventories are holding at average levels.
Reversal coming? Yesterday we saw basis values for San Francisco spot diesel plummet to the lowest levels of the year, but then overnight the Chevron refinery in Richmond was forced to shut several units due to a power outage which could cause those differentials to quickly find a bid if the supplier is forced to become a buyer to replace that output.
Money managers continued to reduce the net length held in crude oil contracts, with both Brent and WTI seeing long liquidation and new short positions added last week. Perhaps most notable from the weekly COT report data is that funds are continuing their counter-seasonal bets on higher gasoline prices. The net length held by large speculators for RBOB is now at its highest level since Labor Day, at a time of year when prices tend to drop due to seasonal demand weakness.
Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.