Energy Markets Saw A Huge Bounce Off Of Tuesday’s Early Lows

Market TalkWednesday, Mar 30 2022
Pivotal Week For Price Action

Energy markets saw a huge bounce off of Tuesday’s early lows, as hopes for a de-escalation of the fighting in Ukraine quickly faded and the threats of a recession take a back seat to supply concerns once again.  

After a big move lower that put some contracts near a technical breakdown Tuesday following reports of Russian troops shifting away from Kyiv, some people must have realized that Russia also claimed to have pulled troops back just a few days before invading in February and suddenly those big early losses evaporated heading into the afternoon. 

In addition to the reality that the war in Ukraine is probably a long way from over, European countries made their next moves in their chess match over Russian energy supplies. Poland said it was working to end Russian oil imports by the end of the year, while Germany warned consumers to conserve energy as it may be cut off after refusing to pay for its natural gas supply in rubles.

It’s not just futures markets that are seeing more big swings this week, basis markets around the country are seeing large moves as traders react to rapidly evolving supply realities, refinery upsets and huge swings in calendar spreads. The West Coast continues to see the most dramatic moves, with gasoline differentials completing plummeting 80 cents or more over the past 2 weeks, after rallying 90 cents to start the month.   

The API reported inventory draws across the board again yesterday, with crude oil stocks estimated to drop by 3 million barrels, gasoline down 1.3 million and diesel stocks down 215k for the week.  The DOE’s weekly report is due out at its normal time this morning. Crude output and refinery runs should be watched in today’s report to see if the uptick in drilling activity over recent weeks shows up in increased production – which has been stubbornly stagnant so far in 2022 – while refinery runs will be tested as plants ramp up to meet increasing demand after the big drop in capacity over the past 2 years.  

Speaking of which:  A report Tuesday suggested that after a brief dip due to Omicron, US road traffic volumes have recovered to pre-pandemic levels, just in time for the global supply crunch. The report does estimate that record high retail prices may curb demand this summer, but unless job growth slows, there should still be more increases in demand as we enter the driving season.

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

Market Talk 3.30.22

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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.