Energy Prices Were On The Move Higher To Start Wednesday’s Trading
Energy prices were on the move higher to start Wednesday’s trading despite increases in weekly inventory levels after another attempted sell-off proved short lived, and buyers seem to be quite content to buy the dip.
A late day rally cut Tuesday’s losses dramatically, with RBOB bouncing 10 cents off of its low for the day, while ULSD rallied by 7 cents. Despite that big bounce, which managed to keep the bullish trend comfortably intact, ULSD prices did snap their 10 session winning streak that had added a casual 66 cents to prices over the past 2 weeks.
The EIA’s monthly Short Term Energy Outlook followed the pattern of several major bank reports in the past week, raising its forecast for energy prices for the next year due to the ongoing fallout over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, even though the forecast suggests global oil supplies should outpace demand in each of the next 6 quarters.
The report predicts that Russian oil output will drop 2 million barrels/day over the coming year from 11 to 9 million, while US output will increase from 11 million to 13 million by the end of 2023. The report also highlights the drop in operable US refining capacity over the past 2 years, as a harsh reminder that this isn’t so much a global lack of oil, it’s more a shortage of transportation and refining capabilities. See the notes and charts below.
The API reported inventory builds across the board last week with US crude and gasoline stocks each up 1.8 million barrels, while distillates increased by 3.3 million. The DOE’s version of the weekly stats is due out at its normal time this morning.
Excuse me: New efforts to curb carbon emissions this week include New Zealand putting a pricing mechanism on sheep and cow burps and a Wisconsin fuel marketer shipping processed cow waste to California. (insert Texans making a “is that why they’re all moving here?” joke) Meanwhile, as new and more creative ways to take advantage of California’s Low Carbon Fuel standard emerge, that market-based program is seeing the value of its credits plummet to 5 year lows.
STEO NOTES:
Open Interest: The STEO also noted the dramatic drop in open interest for energy contracts, stating that, “Fewer futures contracts held by these traders suggest some producers or end users could be reducing their hedging activity, in part, because higher commodity prices and higher volatility are likely making it more expensive to hedge. In addition, higher interest rates may be increasing the costs of opening a futures position, such as higher margin rates.” Keep this in mind the next time oil prices crash.
East Coast Shortages: “By the end of April, gasoline inventories on the East Coast were 14 million barrels below their five-year (2017–2021) average levels (Figure 6). At the same time, combined Gulf Coast and Midwest inventories were almost 2 million barrels above their five-year average level. In May, East Coast gasoline inventories remained low and did not decrease much further, while Midwest and Gulf Coast inventories drew down substantially. On May 27, combined Gulf Coast and Midwest inventories were down by 6 million barrels from their end-April levels while East Coast gasoline inventories were down by almost 1 million barrels”
Tight Diesel Supplies: We estimate distillate imports, which would normally increase to help rebuild low inventories and moderate prices, were below the five-year average at 145,000 b/d for the four weeks ending May 27. If confirmed in monthly data, this recent decrease in distillate imports would signal that global demand remains strong as markets continue to adjust to sanctions on Russia’s exports, reduced export quotas in China, and overall lower global refinery capacity.
Refinery crack spreads: Inventories for gasoline and diesel in the United States are low at the same time that they are similarly low in Europe and elsewhere in the Atlantic Basin, contributing to broad increases in crack spreads for both products
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Energy Contracts Are Trying To Find A Floor After Taking Their Largest Weekly Losses Of The Year So Far Last Week
Energy contracts are trying to find a floor after taking their largest weekly losses of the year so far last week.
There’s not much in the way of news yet this morning, so the modest buying is largely being blamed on reports that Saudi Arabia raised its prices for Asian and Mediterranean buyers in June, signaling that demand is strong enough in those markets to shoulder the increase.
RBOB gasoline futures have already dropped 28 cents from the high set April 12th, leading the argument that prices have peaked for the season. The 200-day moving average comes in just under $2.50/gallon this week, some 6.5 cents below current values, and helps set a pivotal chart support layer. If prices break there, there’s a strong case that we’ll see another 20-30 cents of downside, similar to what we saw this time last year.
Money managers continued to reduce their net length in NYMEX contracts last week, as WTI, RBOB and ULSD saw a net decrease of more than 17,000 contracts of speculative length. The hedge fund liquidation seems to have run its course for this latest news cycle however, as new short positions accounted for the majority of the decrease, and WTI and Brent both saw new length added by the big speculators. Money managers are now net-short on ULSD, which could be another reason to think the bottom is near if you subscribe to the theory that the bandwagon-jumping hedge funds usually are wrong.
Baker Hughes reported a decline of 7 oil rigs and 3 natural gas rigs last week, bringing the combined total rig count to its lowest level in more than 2 years. Perhaps most noteworthy in this week’s report was that Alaska saw 5 of its 14 active rigs taken offline in just 1 week. It’s not yet clear if this may have anything to do with the startup of the transmountain pipeline which will have Western Canadian crude now competing more directly with Alaskan grades.
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Energy Markets Are Pointing Modestly Higher To Start Friday’s Session
Energy markets are pointing modestly higher to start Friday’s session, in a meager attempt at a recovery rally at the end of what would be the worst week in over two months if prices settle near current values. The liquidation of speculative bets placed on higher energy prices ahead of the direct conflict between Israel and Iran continues to appear to be the driver of the weakness, and we’ll have to wait and see if this modest bounce is a sign that the liquidation is over, or just a pause before it picks up again. Most contracts remain in a precarious technical position with the potential for a slide towards $70 for WTI and $2.20 for both refined products if the buyers don’t get serious soon.
Stocks are pointing sharply higher after a slowdown in job growth reported in the April Non-Farm payroll report. The BLS reported an increase of 175,000 jobs for the month, down sharply from the 315,000 jobs added in March, and the February & March estimates were revised down a combined 22,000. Both the “official” (U-3) and “real” (U-6) unemployment rates ticked up by .1% to 3.9% and 7.4% respectively. The immediate positive reaction to negative news suggest that the bad news is good news low-interest-rate junkies believe this may help the FED’s dilemma of the US economy being too strong to cut rates. The big jump in equities has not seemed to spill over into energy contracts yet, as crude and refined product contracts changed very little following the report.
San Francisco diesel basis spiked 15 cents Thursday to reach the highest level of any market in the country so far this year at 35 cents over prompt futures. While there aren’t yet any refinery upsets reported to blame the spike on, PBF is undergoing planned maintenance at its Martinez facility, and of course P66 just finished converting its Rodeo plant to RD after Marathon converted its Martinez facility in the past couple of years, meaning there are at most only 2 out of the previous 5 refineries in the region operating near capacity these days. The question now is how quickly barrels can shift north from Southern California which continues to show signs of a supply glut with weak basis values and spot to rack spreads.
PBF continued the trend of Q1 refinery earnings that were sharply lower, but still healthy by longer-term historical standards. The company noted that its Saint Bernard (the parish, not the dog) Renewables facility co-processing at its Chalmette refinery had received provisional approval from CARB to lower its CI scores and help improve the amount of LCFS subsidies it can receive. That facility is operating at 18mb/day which is roughly 86% of its capacity.
Cenovus highlighted the restart of its Toledo and Superior refineries in improved refinery run rates in Q1 2024 vs Q1 2023 and noted that it had ramped up production at units that were slowed down for economic reasons in December and January (you may remember this as the time when midcontinent basis values were trading 50 cents/gallon below futures). The company did note that the January deep freeze slowed operations at Superior, but did not mention any change in operating rates despite numerous upsets at its 50% owned Borger refinery.
Dress rehearsal for a busy hurricane season? So far there are no reports of refinery issues caused by the flooding in the Houston area this week. At this point, most of the flooding appears to be far to the north of the refining hubs on the Gulf Coast but with more storms in the forecast and 88 counties already declaring disaster status, this will be something to watch for the next few days.
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Crude Oil Inventories Climbed Above Year-Ago Levels For The First Time In 2024
Sell by May then go away.
The old trading adage looked good for energy markets in 2024 as the new month started off with the biggest daily sell-off of the year so far. WTI and ULSD contracts are now in “rally or else” mode on the charts with sharply lower prices a strong possibility now that technical support layers have broken down. RBOB doesn’t look quite as bearish on the charts, but seasonal factors will now act as a headwind as we’re well into the spring peaking window for gasoline prices, and we’ve already seen a 27 cent drop from the highs. If RBOB can hold above $2.50 there’s a chance to avoid a larger selloff, but if not, a run towards $2.20 for both gasoline and diesel looks likely in the months ahead.
The selling picked up steam following the DOE’s weekly report Wednesday, even though the inventory changes were fairly small. Crude oil inventories continue their steady build and climbed above year-ago levels for the first time in 2024. Demand for refined products remains sluggish, even after accounting for the RD consumption that’s still not in the weekly reports, and most PADDs are following a typical seasonal inventory trend. The Gulf Coast saw a healthy build in diesel inventories last week as the export market slowed for a 3rd straight week. Refinery runs dipped modestly last week following a handful of upsets across the country, but overall rates remain near normal levels for this time of year.
The Transmountain pipeline expansion began operations yesterday, completing a 12-year saga that has the potential to materially change refining economics for plants in the US that relied heavily on discounted Canadian crude to turn profits over the past decade.
The P66 Borger refinery reported another operational upset Monday that lasted a full 24 hours impacting a sulfur recovery unit. Last week the company highlighted how the plant’s fire department helped the surrounding area when the largest wildfire in state history came within feet of the facility.
The EPA approved a new model to determine life cycle carbon intensity scores this week, which cracks open the door for things like ethanol to SAF, which were previously deemed to not reduce emissions enough to qualify for government subsidies. The new model would require improved farming techniques like no-till, cover crop planting and using higher efficiency nitrogen fertilizer to limit the damage done by farms that no longer rotate crops due to the ethanol mandates. Whether or not the theoretical ability to produce SAF comes to fruition in the coming years thanks to the increased tax credit potential will be a key pivot point for some markets that find themselves with too much RD today, but could see those supplies transition to aviation demand.
The FED continues to throw cold water on anyone hoping for a near term cut in interest rates. The FOMC held rates steady as expected Wednesday, but also highlighted the struggles with stubbornly high inflation. The CME’s Fedwatch tool gave 58% odds of at least one rate cut by September before the announcement, and those odds have slipped modestly to 54% this morning.