Oil And Diesel Prices Hitting Fresh 8 Month Highs
Oil and diesel prices are hitting fresh 8 month highs this morning and the big 4 petroleum futures contracts are now each up more than 30% from the lows set November 1st with a variety of technical and fundamental factors contributing to the surge.
The DJIA breaching 30,000 seems to be giving plenty of sentimental boost as investors are taking a risk-on stance, and there is clear technical momentum now that the top end of the long-lasting sideways trading range has finally broken.
Perhaps most notable on the charts is that ULSD futures finally filled the gap in their chart left behind during the March collapse. There’s still another 20 cents of upside for distillates to reach their March highs, but short term warning signals are suggesting the contract is overbought following an 8 day streak of gains, and due for a corrective pull back in the near future.
Expectations that OPEC & Friends will be forced to extend output cuts, and another missile strike on Saudi Arabian energy infrastructure are both getting credit for the fundamental reasoning for this rally. The good news is the Saudi facility suffered minimal damage from the missile that was reportedly able to travel more than 300 miles through the air, but was apparently unable to break through the outer wall of a diesel storage tank.
The API was said to show builds in crude oil and gasoline inventories last week of 3.8 and 1.3 million barrels respectively, while distillates drew by 1.8 million barrels. The builds in inventory were getting credit for a pause in the rally overnight, but seem to be ignored now that the buyers have stepped back in. The DOE/EIA’s weekly status report is due out at its normal time this morning.
An EIA note this morning shows US gasoline prices are holding near their lowest in 10 years heading into what is traditionally the busiest travel day of the year. The note also highlights the expected reductions in travel this Thanksgiving holiday by car (4%) air (48%) and mass transit (76%) due to COVID.
That huge difference between automobiles (which primarily run on gasoline) and other transportation methods (which rely heavy on various distillates) is one of many challenges refiners are facing as they attempt to shift output to match the unprecedented changes in demand this year.
Speaking of which, there was yet another refining casualty this week as Total announced it was halting operations the Donges refinery in Western France due to poor economic conditions. The shutdown is expected to last several months, but the plant is moving forward with a major upgrading project suggesting that it could return to service once demand gets back to normal.
NYMEX contracts will trade Thursday and Friday, but only Friday’s trading will have a settlement. Spot markets will not be assessed either day, so most rack prices will carry through from tonight to Monday.
Click here to download a PDF of today’s TACenergy Market Talk.
Latest Posts
The Energy Bulls Are On The Run This Morning, Lead By Heating And Crude Oil Futures
Gasoline And Crude Oil Futures Are All Trading Between .5% And .8% Lower To Start The Day
Week 39 - US DOE Inventory Recap
Crude Oil Futures Are Leading The Energy Complex Higher This Morning With WTI Jumping 2% And Exchanging Hands Above The $92
Social Media
News & Views
View All
The 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.