Gasoline Prices Recoup Heavy Losses

Market TalkFriday, Aug 6 2021
Pivotal Week For Price Action

Gasoline prices have recouped most of the heavy losses suffered in the front half of the week, but need to extend this two day rally to avoid more downward pressure as charts continue to favor lower prices. The September RBOB contract (RBU) continues to be the standout in the entire complex as we begin the early stages of the fall RVP transition, and summer spec products start to become scarce. ULSD and WTI have also seen nice rebounds off of Wednesday’s lows, but are still pointed for large losses on the week and hinting at more to come.

The relative strength in gasoline prices has pushed crack spreads to 2 year highs, providing some much needed relief to the beleaguered refining industry. On the other hand, RIN values are about $1.50/gallon higher than they were 2 years ago, which offsets a large portion of that improvement in the gross refining margins. Perhaps an even bigger concern for refiners is that the traditional driving season is quickly coming to a close, and with so much uncertainty about what the winter will bring with the various COVID variants, these current values may look lofty in the near future.

For a contrary opinion, See this Reuters article on Chinese fuel demand for a good break down of how gasoline consumption remains on pace to hit a record this year despite the recent increases in COVID cases.

The US president signed an executive order on “Strengthening American Leadership in Clean Cars and Trucks” Thursday. In that order the EPA & Transportation secretaries were told to “…consider beginning work on rules” that would push for 50% of new vehicles to be carbon neutral, and to increase the fuel efficiency of traditional vehicles starting with model year 2027. Note the order wasn’t to begin the work, but to consider beginning the work. Based on that, and Washington’s general inefficiency, it seems more likely that the rules will still be debated in 2027 rather than having them adopted.  

Perhaps the most notable detail (which naturally is overlooked) is that the President also encouraged the agencies to follow California’s lead in adopting these standards, which could mean the continued spread of the LCFS & Cap & Trade programs.

(c) Given the significant expertise and historical leadership demonstrated by the State of California with respect to establishing emissions standards for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles, the Administrator of the EPA shall coordinate the agency’s activities pursuant to sections 2 through 4 of this order, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, with the State of California as well as other States that are leading the way in reducing vehicle emissions, including by adopting California’s standards.   

The FERC rejected a request by airlines and cargo plane operators to grant emergency access to Kinder Morgan’s SFPP North line system to get more fuel to Reno, but ordered the parties involved to establish a conference aimed at “resolving current and long-term issues” regarding to that pipeline’s capacity. The order did not require a singing of Kumbaya at the end of the conference.

2 potential storm systems continue to be watched by the NHC, with the 2nd still given 60% odds of developing next week.

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

Market Update 8.6.21

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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.