Choppy Holiday Week For Energy Prices So Far
It’s a choppy holiday week for energy prices so far as an overnight rally in gasoline and crude oil wiped out Tuesday’s losses. Inventory reports are delayed a day, and are expected to show some huge swings as the industry continues its slow recovery from Hurricane Ida while keeping a wary eye out for the next storm.
5 of the 9 refineries knocked offline by Ida are in some stage of the restart process this week, but it could be months before some are back fully, and in the case of the Belle Chasse facility, market chatter suggests it may never come back online. The big blow to production is driving a large increase in gasoline imports to the US, with estimates that we’ll see the most deliveries from Europe since the Colonial hack crippled East Coast supplies back in May.
Markets around the world are watching the European Central Bank this week as they debate how to deal with rampant inflation. Record money printing aka stimulus by central banks around the world has pushed stocks in several countries (including the US) to record highs, and there’s more than a little concern as to how the markets will react as those cash infusions come to an end. The correlation between energy and equity markets has weakened in the past few weeks, but the negative relationship with the US Dollar has become more pronounced, making any central bank policy more influential on fuel prices.
Hurricane Larry continues to churn through the Atlantic, but is staying far enough out to sea to only threaten the US with rough seas. Newfoundland could take a direct hit from this storm, but the Come By Chance refinery that is right in the path and used to be an importer of refined products to the US has been shuttered due to economic reasons for years, so there will not be a supply threat from this storm. There’s another system in the Gulf of Mexico given 50% odds of developing, with projections show it moving east towards Florida but potentially bringing heavy rain to the oil infrastructure still trying to recover from Ida. A third potential system is moving off the African coast, with low odds of development given. We’re just a week away from the peak of the storm season so don’t be surprised to see another storm or two named soon.
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View AllThe 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.