Energy Markets Seeing Modest Gains To Start Friday's Session
Energy markets are seeing modest gains to start Friday’s session, chipping away at the heavy losses we saw earlier in the week.
If prices end near current levels, gasoline prices will be down about a penny for the week while distillates will be down by a nickel, and the weekly charts still have a higher high and higher low than last week, keeping the upward trend intact.
While the pullback Tuesday and Wednesday eased immediate concerns of another runaway rally for fuel prices, warning signs are already flashing that retail fuel prices are back up to $3.50 per gallon during some of the weakest demand of the year, while refiners are still able to blend large amounts of butane into fuel to stretch supplies. With inventories already low and numerous refineries struggling, the stage is set fundamentally for a big rally in the weeks ahead, and technical indicators suggest there’s plenty of room for more upside as the upward trend started in December is still intact despite this week’s selling.
Are we striking or not? That seems to be the question for French unions that tried again Thursday to disrupt operations at refineries and nuclear power plants Thursday, but saw participation wane as cold temperatures increased heating demand and increased the risk of backlash for interfering with fuel deliveries. There’s another strike planned for next week, so the risk to supplies remains if that lasts more than a day or two.
Chevron reported record profits in 2022, even though Q4 earnings pulled back substantially from the prior 2 quarters as fuel prices retreated. The company’s refinery earnings were more than triple 2021 levels, in what is certainly going to be a theme for the rest of the earnings releases upcoming. Of course these companies remain easy targets for politicians wanting to place blame for high fuel prices. The “drill more or else” mantra is probably overlooking that while the on shore rig counts have stagnated, the offshore business is booming once again.
While refined products are recovering, natural gas prices have continued to slide, dropping below $3 for the first time since May of 2021 as inventories swell and weather reports suggest that much warmer winter than previously forecast is still in the cards. Those cheap prices may not last long however as the Freeport LNG Export facility received FERC approval to begin the long process of restarting its operations. That facility accounted for 15% of US exports before a fire last June and has kept domestic prices suppressed as those supplies were stranded inland.
Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.
Latest Posts
Energy Markets Are Ticking Modestly Higher This Morning But Remain Well Off The Highs Set Early Thursday
The Yo-Yo Action In Diesel Continues With Each Day Alternating Between Big Gains And Big Losses So Far This Week
Week 38- US DOE Inventory Recap
It’s A Soft Start For Energy Markets Wednesday As Traders Await The Weekly Inventory Report, And The FOMC
Social Media
News & Views
View AllEnergy Markets Are Ticking Modestly Higher This Morning But Remain Well Off The Highs Set Early Thursday
Energy markets are ticking modestly higher this morning but remain well off the highs set early Thursday following the reports that Russia was temporarily banning most refined product exports.
The law of government intervention and unintended consequences: Russian officials claim the export ban is an effort to promote market stability, and right on cue, its gasoline prices plummeted a not-so-stable 10% following the news.
There’s a saying that bull markets don’t end due to bad news, they end when the market stops rallying on good news. It’s possible that if ULSD futures continue lower after failing to sustain yesterday’s rally, or this morning’s, we could be seeing the end of the most recent bull run. That said, it’s still much too soon to call the top here, particularly with a steepening forward curve leaving prices susceptible to a squeeze, and the winter-demand months still ahead of us. Short term we need to see ULSD hold above $3.30 next week to avoid breaking its weekly trend line.
The sell-off in RIN values picked up steam Thursday, with 2023 D4 and D6 values dropping to the $1.02 range before finally finding a bid later in the session and ending the day around $1.07.
Tropical Storm Ophelia is expected to be named today, before making landfall on the North Carolina coast tomorrow. This isn’t a major storm, and there aren’t any refineries in its path, so it’s unlikely to do much to disrupt supply, but it will dump heavy rain several of the major East Coast markets so it will likely hamper demand through the weekend. The other storm system being tracked by the NHC is now given 90% odds of being named next week, but its predicted path has shifted north as it moves across the Atlantic, which suggests it is more likely to stay out to sea like Nigel did than threaten either the Gulf or East Coasts.
Exxon reported an upset at its Baytown refinery that’s been ongoing for the past 24 hours. It’s still unclear which units are impacted by this event, and whether or not it will have meaningful impacts on output. Total’s Pt Arthur facility also reported an upset yesterday, but that event lasted less than 90 minutes. Like most upsets in the region recently, traders seem to be shrugging off the news with gulf coast basis values not moving much.
Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.
The Yo-Yo Action In Diesel Continues With Each Day Alternating Between Big Gains And Big Losses So Far This Week
The yo-yo action in diesel continues with each day alternating between big gains and big losses so far this week. Today’s 11-cent rally is being blamed on reports that Russia is cutting exports of refined products effective immediately. It’s been a while since Russian sabre rattling has driven a noticeable price move in energy futures, after being a common occurrence at the start of the war. Just like tweets from our prior President however, these types of announcements seem to have a diminishing shelf-life, particularly given how the industry has adapted to the change in Russian export flows, so don’t be surprised if the early rally loses steam later today.
The announcement also helped gasoline prices rally 5-cents off of their overnight lows, and cling to modest gains just above a penny in the early going. Before the announcement, RBOB futures were poised for a 5th straight day of losses.
IF the export ban lasts, that would be good news for US refiners that have seen their buyers in south American countries – most notably Brazil – reduce their purchases in favor of discounted barrels from Russia this year.
US refinery runs dropped below year-ago levels for the first time in 6 weeks, with PADDS 1, 2 and 3 all seeing large declines at the start of a busy fall maintenance schedule. Oil inventories continued to decline, despite the drop-in run rates and a big increase in the adjustment factor as oil exports surged back north of 5 million barrels/day. Keep in mind that as recently as 2011 the US only produced 5 million barrels of oil every day, and exports were mostly banned until 2016, so to be sending this many barrels overseas is truly a game changer for the global market.
Chicken or the egg? Cushing OK oil stocks dropped below year-ago levels for the first time since January last week, which may be caused by the return of backwardation incenting shippers to lower inventory levels, the shift to new WTI Midland and Houston contracts as the export market expands. Of course, the low inventory levels are also blamed for causing the backwardation in crude oil prices, and the shift to an export market may keep inventories at the NYMEX hub lower for longer as fewer shippers want to go inland with their barrels.
Refined product inventories remain near the bottom end of their seasonal ranges, with a healthy recovery in demand after last week’s holiday hangover helping keep stocks in check. The biggest mover was a large jump in PADD 5 distillates, which was foreshadowed by the 30 cent drop in basis values the day prior. The big story for gasoline on the week was a surge in exports to the highest level of the year, which is helping keep inventories relatively tight despite the driving season having ended 2 weeks ago.
As expected, the FED held rates yesterday, but the open market committee also included a note that they expected to raise rates one more time this year, which sparked a selloff in equity markets that trickled over into energy prices Wednesday afternoon. The correlation between energy and equities has been non-existent of late, and already this morning we’re seeing products up despite equities pointing lower, so it doesn’t look like the FOMC announcement will have a lasting impact on fuel prices this time around.