Bad News For Diesel Fans

Market TalkThursday, Jul 9 2020
Late Rally Pushes Prices Into The Green

WTI prices have traded in a range of less than two dollars/barrel for the past seven trading sessions, as volatility and interest in energy contracts have dwindled after several months when four to five dollar daily swings were the norm. So far in today’s trading session, that high-low range is just 38 cents/barrel, setting a new bar for apathy. Equity markets have seen a similar but less dramatic drop in volatility in recent weeks.

Bad news for diesel fans: The DOE’s weekly report showed inventories reached a new 30+ year high as estimated U.S. consumption was off 20 percent last week. While sharp drops in diesel demand are common following holidays, this report data was compiled prior to July 4, which suggests the numbers could get even worse next week. Gasoline demand saw another slow but steady gain in its weekly demand – disappointing some anticipating a pre-holiday surge – but remain roughly 15 percent below where it would normally be this time of year.

Although it’s well known that the government estimates on a weekly basis are unreliable – which is why many analysts rely on a four week rolling average – it’s easy to understand why gasoline demand is recovering faster, as personal vehicles that drive its consumption are the socially distant mode of transport compared to the diesel-driven buses, trains and other commercial vehicles, not to mention the lack of demand from drilling rigs. Adding to that negative sentiment for diesel, with air travel remaining at extreme lows, refiners are forced to blend more diesel that would normally go to jet production, adding to the glut on that side of the barrel.

There looks to be a silver lining in the court-ordered shutdown of the Dakota access pipeline for some U.S. refiners. Plants on the East Coast that had built out crude-by-rail infrastructure when pipeline capacity was scarce five to ten years ago should now benefit as the DAPL barrels need to find a new way to market. There seems to be plenty of rail capacity given an overhang of rail cars in recent years, and those buyers should enjoy deeper discounts. On the other hand, plants on the eastern half of PADD 2 are getting squeezed in multiple directions as they were already dealing with the Enbridge Line 5 shutdown.

Total U.S. refinery runs increased for an eighth straight week, with the Gulf and West Coasts leading the move higher. With refined product inventories holding near record highs, and exports still not quite strong enough to balance the supply/demand equation, we may see run rates plateau in the next few weeks if reopening plans continue to stall.

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Pivotal Week For Price Action
Market TalkThursday, Mar 28 2024

Energy Markets Are Ticking Modestly Higher Heading Into The Easter Weekend With Crude Oil Prices Leading The Way Up About $1.25/Barrel Early Thursday Morning

Energy markets are ticking modestly higher heading into the Easter Weekend with crude oil prices leading the way up about $1.25/barrel early Thursday morning, while gasoline prices are up around 2.5 cents and ULSD futures are about a penny.

Today is the last trading day for April HO and RBOB futures, an unusually early expiration due to the month ending on a holiday weekend. None of the pricing agencies will be active tomorrow since the NYMEX and ICE contracts are completely shut, so most rack prices published tonight will carry through Monday.

Gasoline inventories broke from tradition and snapped a 7 week decline as Gulf Coast supplies increased, more than offsetting the declines in PADDs 1, 2 and 5. With gulf coast refiners returning from maintenance and cranking out summer grade gasoline, the race is now officially on to move their excess through the rest of the country before the terminal and retail deadlines in the next two months. While PADD 3 run rates recover, PADD 2 is expected to see rates decline in the coming weeks with 2 Chicago-area refineries scheduled for planned maintenance, just a couple of weeks after BP returned from 7 weeks of unplanned repairs.

Although terminal supplies appear to be ample around the Baltimore area, we have seen linespace values for shipping gasoline on Colonial tick higher in the wake of the tragic bridge collapse as some traders seem to be making a small bet that the lack of supplemental barge resupply may keep inventories tight until the barge traffic can move once again. The only notable threat to refined product supplies is from ethanol barge traffic which will need to be replaced by truck and rail options, but so far that doesn’t seem to be impacting availability at the rack. Colonial did announce that they would delay the closure of its underutilized Baltimore north line segment that was scheduled for April 1 to May 1 out of an “abundance of caution”.

Ethanol inventories reached a 1-year high last week as output continues to hold above the seasonal range as ethanol distillers seem to be betting that expanded use of E15 blends will be enough to offset sluggish gasoline demand. A Bloomberg article this morning also highlights why soybeans are beginning to displace corn in the subsidized food to fuel race.

Flint Hills reported a Tuesday fire at its Corpus Christi West facility Wednesday, although it’s unclear if that event will have a material impact on output after an FCC unit was “stabilized” during the fire. While that facility isn’t connected to Colonial, and thus doesn’t tend to have an impact on USGC spot pricing, it is a key supplier to the San Antonio, Austin and DFW markets, so any downtime may be felt at those racks.

Meanwhile, P66 reported ongoing flaring at its Borger TX refinery due to an unknown cause. That facility narrowly avoided the worst wildfires in state history a few weeks ago but is one of the frequent fliers on the TCEQ program with upsets fairly common in recent years.

Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk, including all charts from the Weekly DOE Report.

Pivotal Week For Price Action
Pivotal Week For Price Action
Market TalkWednesday, Mar 27 2024

Most Energy Contracts Are Ticking Lower For A 2nd Day After A Trickle Of Selling Picked Up Steam Tuesday

Most energy contracts are ticking lower for a 2nd day after a trickle of selling picked up steam Tuesday. ULSD futures are down a dime from Monday’s highs and RBOB futures are down 7 cents.

Diesel prices continue to look like the weak link in the energy chain, with futures coming within 1 point of their March lows overnight, setting up a test of the December lows around $2.48 if that resistance breaks down. Despite yesterday’s slide, RBOB futures still look bullish on the weekly charts, with a run towards the $3 mark still looking like a strong possibility in the next month or so.

The API reported crude stocks increased by more than 9 million barrels last week, while distillates were up 531,000 and gasoline stocks continued their seasonal decline falling by 4.4 million barrels. The DOE’s weekly report is due out at its normal time this morning.

RIN values have recovered to their highest levels in 2 months around $.59/RIN for D4 and D6 RINs, even though the recovery rally in corn and soybean prices that had helped lift prices off of the 4 year lows set in February has stalled out. Expectations for more biofuel production to be shut in due to weak economics with lower subsidy values seems to be encouraging the tick higher in recent weeks, although prices are still about $1/RIN lower than this time last year.

Reminder that Friday is one of only 3 annual holidays in which the Nymex is completely shut, so no prices will be published, but it’s not a federal holiday in the US so banks will be open.

Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.