Markets Spike Following Reports of 90% Effective COVID Vaccine
Reports of a “90% effective” COVID vaccine have equity and energy markets spiking this morning, with the DJIA and S&P500 both poised to break all-time highs following the news. Energy futures were already moving 2-3 cents higher overnight as the market was considering the impacts a new U.S. president will have on prices, and then surged another 5-6 cents around 6 a.m. when the vaccine news broke.
The spike is breaking the downward sloping trend-lines on the weekly charts for WTI, ULSD and RBOB, with product prices now 22 cents higher than they were during the overnight selloff November 1. The dramatic reversal sets up a test of the top-end of the summer trading range, which looks like it will be a major technical pivot point to determine if prices continue their sideways action or if we see another 20-30% rally in the coming months.
At some point, it seems we’ll probably get a pullback once it sinks in that there is still a long hard winter ahead of us with COVID case counts soaring around the country and around the world, while this vaccine will still need months to develop and then even more time to produce and distribute.
The companies that have been putting oil rigs back to work over the past several weeks must be feeling better about their decision this morning as WTI has added more than 10% to its value so far today. Baker Hughes reported five more rigs were added last week, the seventh consecutive increase, with the Permian basin accounting for the entire move this week.
Money managers on the other hand are probably wishing they had a do-over as they slashed bets on higher prices across the board last week, just in time to miss out on the best rally in the past five months. Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister threatened oil price speculators, and already seems to be holding to that promise, suggesting tweaks to its output cut plans after the widespread selling by large speculative traders last week.
A few interesting reads on how the new President may impact energy markets:
Law360: Biden’s win puts clean energy center stage.
Bloomberg: How Biden’s win affects commodities hit by trade wars.
Reuters: Unresolved Biofuel Policy facing the next president.
Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.
Latest Posts
Week 48 - US DOE Inventory Recap
The API Reported Gasoline Inventories Dropped By 898,000 Barrels Last Week
Values For Space On Colonial’s Main Gasoline Line Continue To Drop This Week
After Another Black Friday Selloff Pushed Energy Futures Sharply Lower In Last Week’s Holiday-Shortened Trading
Social Media
News & Views
View All
Week 48 - US DOE Inventory Recap
The API Reported Gasoline Inventories Dropped By 898,000 Barrels Last Week
Gasoline and oil prices are attempting to rally for a 2nd straight day, a day ahead of the delayed OPEC meeting, while diesel prices are slipping back into the red following Tuesday’s strong showing.
The API reported gasoline inventories dropped by 898,000 barrels last week, crude inventories declined by 817,000 barrels while distillates saw an increase of 2.8 million barrels. Those inventory stats help explain the early increases for RBOB and WTI while ULSD is trading lower. The DOE’s weekly report is due out at its normal time this morning.
A severe storm on the Black Sea is disrupting roughly 2% of the world’s daily oil output and is getting some credit for the bounce in futures, although early reports suggest that this will be a short-lived event.
Chevron reported that its Richmond CA refinery was back online after a power outage Monday night. San Francisco spot diesel basis values rallied more than a dime Tuesday after a big drop on Monday following the news of that refinery being knocked offline.
Just a few days after Scotland’s only refinery announced it would close in 2025, Exxon touted its newest refinery expansion project in the UK Tuesday, with a video detailing how it was ramping up diesel production to reduce imports and possibly allow for SAF production down the road at its Fawley facility.
Ethanol prices continue to slump this week, reaching a 2-year low despite the bounce in gasoline prices as corn values dropped to a 3-year low, and the White House appears to be delaying efforts to shift to E15 in an election year.
Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.
Values For Space On Colonial’s Main Gasoline Line Continue To Drop This Week
The petroleum complex continues to search for a price floor with relatively quiet price action this week suggesting some traders are going to wait and see what OPEC and Friends can decide on at their meeting Thursday.
Values for space on Colonial’s main gasoline line continue to drop this week, with trades below 10 cents/gallon after reaching a high north of 18-cents earlier in the month. Softer gasoline prices in New York seems to be driving the slide as the 2 regional refiners who had been down for extended maintenance both return to service. Diesel linespace values continue to hold north of 17-cents/gallon as East Coast stocks are holding at the low end of their seasonal range while Gulf Coast inventories are holding at average levels.
Reversal coming? Yesterday we saw basis values for San Francisco spot diesel plummet to the lowest levels of the year, but then overnight the Chevron refinery in Richmond was forced to shut several units due to a power outage which could cause those differentials to quickly find a bid if the supplier is forced to become a buyer to replace that output.
Money managers continued to reduce the net length held in crude oil contracts, with both Brent and WTI seeing long liquidation and new short positions added last week. Perhaps most notable from the weekly COT report data is that funds are continuing their counter-seasonal bets on higher gasoline prices. The net length held by large speculators for RBOB is now at its highest level since Labor Day, at a time of year when prices tend to drop due to seasonal demand weakness.
Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.