Refined Products Leading Rally
So much for the sell-off. Refined products are leading a rally this morning, trading up nearly 4 cents/gallon, after technical support managed to hold up through last week’s heavy selling, and a pair of bullish oil headlines made their way through the markets overnight.
Venezuela’s opposition leader called for a military uprising, which is certainly a notable turn of events in the ongoing saga, but probably won’t do much short term to change the flow of oil from the region. You could argue that the move – if successful – will be bearish for oil prices as a regime change should help allow the oil (and dollars) to begin flowing again.
Meanwhile, last week’s call from the US President for OPEC to increase production was refuted by the Saudi oil minister, which seems to also be taking credit for the early buying spree. The full text of the Saudi oil minister’s comments aren’t quite as bullish as headlines might make it seem, as he reiterated the Kingdom’s plan to replace any lost Iranian exports, they just don’t think they’ll need to break the current agreement in order to do so.
While the oil headlines are getting credit for the early rally, refined products are actually leading the charge higher, with both RBOB and ULSD up more than 2%, compared to around 1.5% for Brent and WTI. There do not appear to be any refinery issues to explain the rally, so it seems this may be more technical-based buying now that the trend-lines have held.
Speaking of refiners: Most major refiners have been reporting much weaker earnings in Q1 2019 vs. a year ago as the wide crude spreads that drove profits in 2018 have compressed dramatically.
Today’s interesting read: Philip Verleger compares the current oil supply issues in Iran and Venezuela to 19 previous oil shocks.
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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.