Petroleum Futures Are Working To Go 5 For 5 To Start The New Year As The Bull Run Continues
Petroleum futures are working to go 5 for 5 to start the new year as the bull run continues, pushing ULSD back to the $2.50 mark and WTI above $80 in early trading. Cash prices haven’t seen as dramatic a move as futures in most cases as they had to overcome the New Year’s Eve futures selloff that didn’t hit wholesale prices until Monday night, but are still pointing towards healthy gains, despite evidence that we’re experiencing the worst fuel demand in parts of the country since the 2020 lockdowns as a parade of winter storms has accentuated the typical seasonal slowdown.
While there’s no doubt the bulls took control of the energy markets this week, now that the short term technical targets have been reached, it looks like we could be due for a period of sideways trading, especially if we lose upward momentum in equity markets. Longer term, the bulls will need to find a way to make a run at the October highs in the next month or two – which is easier said than done this time of year – if they’re to avoid a longer-term bearish pattern on the charts.
The December Jobs report showed another healthy month of increases with 199,000 jobs created, while both the headline and “real” (U-6) unemployment rates continued their declines. In addition, the October and November estimates were revised higher by 149,000 jobs, adding to the overall feeling of strength in the labor market. Energy prices haven’t reacted much to the report, but equity prices are coming under pressure and interest rates are pushing higher again as we remain in a “good news is bad news” market since the strong job market just gives the FED another reason to shut down the money printing presses and start raising rates.
Back in the USSR: Russian troops have invaded intervened to quell deadly protests in Kazakhstan over the removal of fuel price subsidies. Those protests appear to also be interrupting crude exports from the country’s largest oilfield, which – combined with ongoing disruptions in Libyan - is likely to keep actual production from the OPEC & Friends cartel well below their target levels.
RIN prices have continued their steady march higher this week, and D6 (ethanol) values are now threatening the downward sloping trend-line that pushed prices from $2 in June to 80 cents in December. There doesn’t appear to be any “new” news driving the run-up in RINs, but the ongoing industry statements regarding the EPA’s proposed rules for 2020-2022 suggest that if those RVO’s become law, we’re destined to see another extended court battle.
Ethanol prices meanwhile continue to see a dramatic drop, with most US spot markets now trading $1.50/gallon or more lower than they were just 6 weeks ago the winter demand doldrums that are being felt by gasoline producers all over the country are spilling over into the alcohol fuel arena and helping alleviate the supply bottlenecks that drove the record setting backwardation last year.
Today’s interesting read: Climate Change mistakes and the influence of fuel prices in politics.
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View AllRefined Products Are Moving Lower For A 2nd Day After Coming Under Heavy Selling Pressure In Wednesday’s Session
Refined products are moving lower for a 2nd day after coming under heavy selling pressure in Wednesday’s session. Rapidly increasing refinery runs and sluggish diesel demand both seemed to weigh heavily on product prices, while crude oil is still benefitting from the disruption of exports from Iraq. Prices remain range-bound, so expect more choppy back and forth action in the weeks ahead.
US oil inventories saw a large decline last week, despite another 13-million barrels of oil being found in the weekly adjustment figure, as imports dropped to a 2-year low, and refinery runs cranked up in most regions as many facilities return from spring maintenance.
The refining utilization percentage jumped to its highest level of the year but remains overstated since the new 250,000 barrels/day of output from Exxon’s Beaumont facility still isn’t being counted in the official capacity figures. If you’re shocked that the government report could have such a glaring omission, then you haven’t been paying attention to the Crude Adjustment figure this year, and the artificially inflated petroleum demand estimates that have come with it.
Speaking of which, we’re now just a couple of months away from WTI Midland crude oil being included in the Dated Brent index, and given the uncertainty in the US over what should be classified as oil vs condensate, expect some confusion once those barrels start being included in the international benchmark as well.
Diesel demand continues to hover near the lowest levels we’ve seen for the first quarter in the past 20+ years, dropping sharply again last week after 2 straight weeks of increases had some markets hoping that the worst was behind us. Now that we’re moving out of the heating season, we’ll soon get more clarity on how on road and industrial demand is holding up on its own in the weekly figures that have been heavily influenced by the winter that wasn’t across large parts of the country.
Speaking of which, the EIA offered another mea culpa of sorts Wednesday by comparing its October Winter Fuels outlook to the current reality, which shows a huge reduction in heating demand vs expectations just 6-months ago.
It’s not just domestic consumption of diesel that’s under pressure, exports have fallen below their 5-year average as buyers in South America are buying more Russian barrels, and European nations are getting more from new facilities in the Middle East.
Take a look at the spike in PADD 5 gasoline imports last week to get a feel for how the region may soon be forced to adjust to rapidly increasing refining capacity in Asia, while domestic facilities come under pressure.
Crude Oil Prices Are Trying To Lead Another Rally In Energy Futures This Morning
Crude oil prices are trying to lead another rally in energy futures this morning, while ULSD prices are resisting the pull higher. Stocks are pointed higher in the early going as no news is seen as good news in the banking crisis.
WTI prices have rallied by $10/barrel in the past 7 trading days, even with a $5 pullback last Thursday and Friday. The recovery puts WTI back in the top half of its March trading range but there’s still another $7 to go before the highs of the month are threatened.
Yesterday’s API report seems to be aiding the continued strength in crude, with a 6 million barrel inventory decline estimated by the industry group last week. That report also showed a decline of 5.9 million barrels of gasoline which is consistent with the spring pattern of drawdowns as we move through the RVP transition, while distillates saw a build of 550k barrels. The DOE’s weekly report is due out at its normal time this morning.
Diesel prices seems to be reacting both to the small build in inventories – which is yet another data point of the weak demand so far this year for distillates – and on the back of crumbling natural gas prices that settled at their lowest levels in 2.5 years yesterday and fell below $2/million BTU this morning.
While diesel futures are soft, rack markets across the Southwestern US remain unusually tight, with spreads vs spot markets approaching $1/gallon in several cases as local refiners go through maintenance and pipeline capacity for resupply remains limited. The tightest supply in the region however remains the Phoenix CBG boutique gasoline grade which is going for $1.20/gallon over spots as several of the few refineries that can make that product are having to perform maintenance at the same time.
French refinery strikes continue for a 4th week and are estimated to be keeping close to 1 million barrels/day of fuel production offline, which is roughly 90% of French capacity and almost 1% of total global capacity. That disruption is having numerous ripple effects on crude oil markets in the Atlantic basin, while the impact on refined product supplies and prices remains much more contained than it was when this happened just 5 months ago.
Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.