Energy Supply Crisis In Europe Spreads
Diesel prices are pushing to fresh 3 year highs, and Brent crude is making a run at the $80 mark as an energy supply shortage is spreading across parts of the world. RBOB and WTI prices are lagging behind, but still pushing solid gains to start the week.
Today’s price action seems to reflect that the Energy supply crisis in Europe is spreading, and forcing a severe dose of reality onto those with net-zero ambitions. As we’ve witnessed numerous times following supply disruptions in the US (whether that’s fuel, or toilet paper) panic buying is making the situation even worse, and causing many stations to run dry across the UK. It’s not just Europe that’s having problems, power shortages across China are promising to increase challenges for other supply chains that have been hampering global trade for the past year.
Feast or famine: As parts of the world are struggling with a lack of natural gas, producing nations are still struggling with how to limit the excess gas that has to be burned off in flares. See this financial times video on the work being done to improve that process.
Hurricane Sam blew up into a Category 4 storm with sustained winds near 150 miles per hour over the weekend, but its track has shifted favorably and it appears that it will spare most Caribbean islands and the US East Coast. There is still a chance the storm could hit the Canadian coast as it travels north, but in terms of fuel supply disruptions this storm should be a non-event.
The National Hurricane Center is tracking 3 other storm systems, 2 of which are given 80% odds of developing, and are in a position that gives them a chance at heading for either the Gulf or East coasts next week.
Not coincidentally, as diesel prices have reached 3 year highs, the bets placed on higher diesel prices by large speculators has also reached their highest levels since 2018. The money manager trade category is less enthusiastic about RBOB and WTI contracts however, reducing their net length in both last week.
Baker Hughes reported 10 more oil rigs were put to work last week, the 2nd straight week of double digit increases. For months we’ve read stories about how US Producers were being more conservative as prices rose, and now we’ll see if that’s really true as an industry built by “WildCatters” is once again enjoying a very profitable market.
Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.
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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.