Oil Prices Trade At Highest Values In Over A Year

Market TalkWednesday, Feb 3 2021
Market Talk Updates - Social Header

Oil prices are trading at their highest values in more than a year this morning, and refined products are nearing one year highs of their own in what appears to be a technically driven rally after prices bounced hard off of the bullish trend lines Monday, and broke through chart resistance yesterday.  

A decline in oil inventories reported by the API is getting some of the credit for the continued rally, with the industry group reporting a 4.3 million barrel draw in crude stocks.  Gasoline and diesel stocks had smaller declines of 240,000 and 1.6 million barrels respectively.  One thing to watch out for is that we saw a huge draw in last week’s DOE report largely driven by a surge in exports and decline in imports. If those trade flows normalize this week, we could see a large build in crude stocks that might throw a little cold water on the bulls.

One odd thing about this rally is that it’s happening despite a strong move higher in the U.S. Dollar, which typically would put downward pressure on commodities in general, and energy contracts in particular. The correlation between the currency and energy contracts has flipped to positive in recent weeks, another sign that the most recent runup may be more technical for energy than fundamental as buyers of U.S. dollar-denominated oil are now paying more for the product, and their exchange rate.

Another odd thing about this rally? It’s happening despite RIN values pulling back sharply, falling more than a dime from the multi-year highs they reached last week. RIN values and product prices often move in the same direction as the federal renewable fuel credits act like a tax to refiners who don’t have the capability to blend their own ethanol, bio and other renewable products, which means a rise in RIN prices requires a rise in crack spreads for the margins to stay even. 

A third oddity about this rally is that it’s coming in the wake of a major winter storm that is hitting demand hard all along some of the country’s most populated areas on the east coast, while another major cold snap moves in right behind it that’s likely to further reduce consumption. Despite that, we’re seeing RBOB lead the move higher even as we could be in for the worst week of gasoline demand in some markets since Christmas.

The storm does not seem to have done any lasting damage to supply infrastructure in the North East, with no extended terminal or refinery downtime. In fact, it does not appear that there are any major refinery outages being reported that might cause the spike in RBOB outright prices and time spreads that we’re seeing this week. Actually, the only newsworthy refinery reports are that the refinery formerly known as Hovensa, is increasing its output, bringing a new competitor back to the Atlantic basin for the first time in years.

A strong recover rally in U.S. equity markets after some heavy selling last week seems to be adding to the bullish sentiment, but equities are pointing to a flat open so that doesn’t seem to explain the early strength in RBOB today.

Given the equity headlines over the past week, you might think that the RBOB rally could be a short squeeze, but since large speculators have actually been building their net long position to the highest level in a year over the past several weeks, that doesn’t seem to be a likely cause.  

At this point, it doesn’t matter much what’s causing the rally to continue, until that bullish trend line is broken, it seems the path of least resistance is for energy prices to keep moving higher despite all the potential headwinds. The big test for RBOB and ULSD remains the February 2020 highs around $1.68 and $1.72. If the break there, we could see another 15-20 cents of upside, but a failure could mean a move back into the $1.40s based on nothing more than a natural technical correction of the three month old rally.

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

TACenergy MarketTalk 020321

News & Views

View All
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.