Shutdown Pessimism Outweighs Vaccine Optimism
Energy and equity markets are giving back most of Monday’s gains in the early going Tuesday as shutdown pessimism seems to be outweighing vaccine optimism today.
New state-wide restrictions are popping up from coast to coast just ahead of one of the busiest travel weeks of the year, which will certainly put some more downward pressure on fuel demand, although the extent remains to be seen.
After being the weak link in the energy chain for months, distillates have had a strong performance this fall as inventories in several regions dropped to normal levels thanks to a slow recovery in demand and plummeting output from refiners. We can see evidence of that dramatic change in the chart of Midwestern diesel stocks below that shows inventories going from all-time highs in August, to an eight-year-low today. The annual harvest demand peak, and a pull from neighboring states to the West seem to be the major contributors to that rapid drawdown, with W. Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Nevada all finding themselves suddenly short on diesel supply. Cash markets suggest this will be a short-lived phenomenon with steep backwardation into December foreshadowing a recovery in supplies, and the seasonal demand drop, both coming soon.
Reuters is reporting that documents leaked from OPEC’s technical committee make the case for another three to six month extension of the current output cuts. We should find out two weeks from today if that plan is adopted by the cartel.
See this note for a listing of all the refinery closures/conversions announced around the world so far, which total roughly 1.7 million barrels/day of capacity. The exception to the current refining rule of weak margins appears to be China, as the country’s plants reached another output record in October amidst healthy domestic demand.
U.S. refiners are not so lucky, and are facing yet another new challenge as the ordered shut down of Enbridge’s line 5 puts more plants in MI and OH at an even greater risk of being unable to operate economically, although it could be a life saver for other refiners in the mid-continent who have the logistics in place to make a home for that newly distressed crude oil coming from western Canada.
The line 5 saga is just one of several pieces of political theater impacting energy markets since the election. RIN values had been on a tear since the renewable friendly Presidential victory was called, but D6 values have pulled back sharply this week after the EPA administrator said RIN values were “out of control” and that the agency would not release RVO targets for 2021 by the Nov. 30 deadline.
In addition, nominations for drilling in ANWR have been opened up, leaving just enough time for potential leases to be signed before the presidential inauguration. The flurry of events in the past few days suggests we are likely to see more moves from the democratically warring factions in the weeks ahead.
Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.
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Wholesale Gasoline Prices Across Most Of The US Reached Their Lowest Levels In 2-Years Thursday
Wholesale gasoline prices across most of the US reached their lowest levels in 2-years Thursday, after the morning recovery rally fizzled in the afternoon. RBOB gasoline futures dipped below the $2 mark briefly, before settling just above it, while cash prices in several major markets dropped below $1.80 for the first time since December 2021, while crude oil and diesel prices reached fresh 6-month lows.
The bulls are giving it another go this morning, pushing futures up 5-cents for gasoline and 6- cents for diesel, trying to snap the streak of 6-straight daily losses for ULSD, although we’ll need to see products double their early gains to erase the weekly decline.
Energy prices didn’t react much initially to the November Payroll report that estimated 199,000 jobs were added during the month, while the official unemployment rate dipped to 3.7% from 3.9% and the U-6 rate dropped to 7% from 7.2%. Equity futures moved modestly lower immediately following that report as labor market resilience throws cold water on recent hopes for interest rate cuts, but as has often been the case for several months now, energy prices are managing to shrug off the move in stocks.
Big negative basis values continue to be the theme across the Gulf Coast and Mid-Continent, with USGC, Group 3 and Chicago all trading at 20+ cent discounts to futures for both gasoline and diesel. Those negative values are weighing on refining margins with USGC crack spreads approaching their lowest levels in 2 years, which will almost certainly curtail some refinery run rates through the winter months. East Coast refiners meanwhile are finding themselves in a strong position as shipping bottlenecks keep PADD 1 inventories low and their crack spreads remain in the mid $20/barrel range despite the recent pull back in futures.
The long-awaited Dangote refinery is reportedly receiving its first cargo of crude oil today. That new 650mb/day refinery would be the world’s largest single train refinery, but is already years behind schedule, and many still doubt its ability to run anywhere near capacity. We’ve already seen the impact Kuwait’s 615mb/day Al Zour refinery can have on markets across the Atlantic basin, so whether or not the Nigerian facility can ramp up run rates could have a major influence on product prices next year.
Click here to download a PDF of today's TACenergy Market Talk.
West Coast Gasoline Inventories Dropped Sharply Last Week And Are Now Holding Below Their 5-year Seasonal Range
Energy futures are bouncing this morning as buyers are finally stepping in after RBOB futures touched a 2-year low Wednesday, while WTI and ULSD both hit their lowest levels in 5 months. There are headwinds both fundamentally and technically, but so far, the market isn’t acting like a collapse is imminent and as the table below shows this is right about the time when gasoline prices bottomed out the past two years.
Saudi Arabia and Russia released a joint statement this morning, following Vladimir Putin’s trip to the Kingdom, urging OPEC & friends to join their output cut agreement, which takes the risk of a price war that could send prices plunging (as we’ve seen twice in the past decade) off the table for now and seems to be contributing to WTI climbing back above the $70 mark and Brent getting back above $75.
The DOE reported a healthy bounce back in fuel demand estimates after the annual Thanksgiving holiday hangover, but that wasn’t enough to prevent refined product inventories from continuing to build as refiners continue to return from maintenance and increase run rates. The builds in gasoline inventories particularly suggest it could be a tough winter for some refiners who are already having some challenges clearing their extra barrels.
The exception on gasoline comes in PADD 5. West Coast gasoline inventories dropped sharply last week and are now holding below their 5-year seasonal range, which is dramatically lower than year-ago levels which set the top end of that range. Those tight stocks help explain why West Coast values are the most expensive in the country by a wide margin and leave little cushion to deal with unplanned maintenance which helps explain the jump in CARBOB basis values this week.
On the diesel side of the barrel, the recent themes of tight supplies on the East Coast, ample supply in the Midwest and Gulf Coast, and a Wild Card on the west coast since we don’t see Renewable Diesel inventories in the weekly figures continues. Take a look at the PADD 2 gasoline and diesel charts below and it’s easy to understand why we’re seeing cash prices in both Group 3 and Chicago approaching multi-year lows with 20-30 cent discounts to futures becoming the rule rather than the exception.
The market seemed to shrug off the drop in total US crude oil stocks, as Cushing OK stocks increased for a 7th straight week, and the decline was largely driven by the largest negative adjustment value on record, which went from a positive 1.2 million barrels/day last week to negative 1.4 million barrels/day this week. The EIA has done a lot of work trying to fix the bugs in its report system and to better define what exactly it’s reporting, but clearly there’s still more work to be done.