New Restrictions Due To Rising COVID Counts
The fear trade is back on, pushing energy and equity markets sharply lower to start the week. New restrictions due to rising COVID counts are the headline of the day, spreading concerns that demand for fuels and other goods could plummet once again this fall.
RBOB gasoline futures are leading the energy complex, trading down by more than a nickel in the early going after a strong rally last week, as the heart of U.S. refining dodged another storm threat, and signs are growing that the seasonal demand slowdown is upon us.
We ran out of names for the 2020 hurricane season, and had to move to the Greek alphabet for just the second time ever as three new storms were named Friday. Tropical Storm Beta is expected to make landfall in Texas near Matagorda bay overnight, which keeps it far enough away from the Corpus Christi and Houston refining hubs that it should not be a major supply disrupter over the next day or two. The problem is that it’s expected to stick around for most of the week, and dump huge amounts of rain – more than a foot in some areas – that will cause flooding, some of which will be in areas still recovering from Hurricane Laura. The storm is also close enough to shore that it could move back out to sea where it can continue to gather strength and add to the rainfall totals.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Teddy is making its way towards the Eastern coast of Canada, but looks like it’s staying far enough to the east that it should miss the Irving refinery in St. John. There is another system near Florida being tracked by the NHC, but it’s given just 20% odds of developing this week.
Remember when we were worried that IMO 2020 specs would mean a shortage of diesel this year? A Bloomberg article notes that Refiners are having to blend kerosene into VLSFO bound for ships because weak demand for jet fuel has them scrambling to keep tanks from reaching capacity. This unusual blending pattern for distillates is expected to continue in the coming year, and keep pressure on ULSD prices as inventories hold near record highs.
Money managers continue to have mixed feelings about energy contracts, making small increases to net length in WTI, while slashing Brent positions last week. RBOB and ULSD contracts saw only minimal changes on the week.
Baker Hughes reported a reduction of one oil rig last week, as drilling activity remains near record lows in the U.S.
Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.
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Week 48 - US DOE Inventory Recap
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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.