Charts Continue To Suggest We’re In For A Period Of Sideways Trading

It’s another quiet start for energy markets that seem to have entered the summer doldrums where peak gasoline demand for the year meets peak disinterest as many in the industry start taking vacations. Charts continue to suggest we’re in for a period of sideways trading now that the big June recovery bounce seems to have run out of steam.

Tropical storm Alberto dissipated over Mexico Thursday, but not before its far-stretching thunderstorms upset another refinery in the Corpus Christi area. Flint Hills reported a boiler was knocked offline at its East Corpus refinery, a day after Citgo reported an upset at its East facility as well. Large parts of Texas have been swimming in supply most of the year as neighboring markets to the North and West have been long, backing up barrels into the Lonestar state so these small upsets are unlikely to move the needle in terms of prices or allocations in the area, but they are a good reminder of how vulnerable these facilities are to the weather. The NHC is still tracking 2 more systems with coin-flip odds of being named in the next few days, but neither one looks like it’s headed for the oil production and refining zones in the Gulf Coast at this point.

Ukraine continues to pound Russian energy infrastructure, with 4 different refineries reportedly struck overnight, following attacks on multiple export facilities earlier in the week. The global market continues to largely shrug off the attacks, as excess refining capacity in Asia seems more than capable of picking up any slack in the supply network that may be caused by a loss in Russian output, which is a very stark contrast to what we were experiencing 2 years ago.

Another dip in capacity: The EIA reported a drop of 103mb/day of refining capacity in the US last week, the first reduction in capacity reported since before Russia invaded Ukraine. A general drop in capacity came as no surprise as the conversion of the P66 Rodeo refinery in the San Francisco Bay area earlier this year was well documented. The surprise in the figures was that the East Coast made up 40% of the total decline, which may suggest those facilities which are generally disadvantaged due to labor costs and limitations in crude oil sourcing, are once again knocking on death’s door after a 2-year reprieve.

With the conversion of Rodeo, PADD 5 now has the least amount of refining capacity since the EIA started tracking that stat 40 years ago. Right on cue, the DOE also reported PADD 5 gasoline imports surged to the highest level in over 3 years last week, offering a glimpse of what lays ahead as the region will now be more dependent on shipments from across the Pacific to meet local demand.

Speaking of which, lobbying groups are filing responses to California Energy’s workshop proposals on new refinery rules to cap profits, using the forum to tout the advantages of whatever product they’re selling, and highlighting the risks of the state making itself a fuel island dependent on imports from overseas.

Another one bites the dust? BP “is pressing pause” on its biofuel project at its Cherry Point WA refinery this week, the latest in a line of biofuel producers to rethink plans to make diesel from soybeans and waste oils as subsidies have plunged. On top of plummeting LCFS and RIN values that have cut nearly $2/gallon out of the credit values of the fuel that costs $3-$4/gallon more than traditional diesel, the new Clean Fuel Production Credit is replacing the $1/gallon Blender’s Tax credit that’s been the lifeline to many producers over the past decade. The new program (which is part of the Inflation “Reduction” Act) sets a higher bar to clear before producers can get their handout, which means some domestic facilities will see another loss in credit values from 50-80 cents/gallon vs the BTC, while importers won’t qualify for any credit under the new program.

For real this time? Mexican officials continue to make up stories about when their new Dos Bocas refinery will begin producing fuels, kicking the can further down the road this week saying the facility will start up in the back half of the year. This is at least the 10th time officials have moved back the start date of the facility over the past few years and given that the back half of the year starts in 10 days, I’ll take the over on this bet. Refiners along the US Gulf Coast are no doubt celebrating anytime another delay is announced as they’re facing more competition than they have in the past two decades for their exports.

Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk, including all charts from the Weekly DOE Report.