Struggling Energy Markets Searching For Stability
Energy markets are still trying to find a floor after a weak finish Friday left refined products at their lowest weekly closing level in several months. For RBOB futures, Friday’s drop left the contract at its lowest level since February, when the prompt contract was a winter spec that traded roughly 25 cents below the current summer values. That slide on the weekly charts leaves the contract in perilous technical territory with a slide into the $2.20 range likely if buyers can’t maintain the current push back north of the $2.50 mark this week. ULSD futures ended the week at their lowest since last July, and a similar slide towards $2.20 appears to have a good probability if the early buying today isn’t sustained. That said, both contracts are in oversold technical territory on the daily charts, so a bigger bounce is certainly possible.
Ukraine carried out more drone strikes on Russian energy assets over the weekend, with the Lukoil Volgograd refinery reportedly forced to take units offline. That facility was also hit by a strike back in February, and reported it was back at full rates in April. In addition, strikes were reported at a fuel depot outside Moscow that serves 3 local refineries.
A week ago, it looked like the cycle of hedge fund liquidation in energy contracts had run its course, but the latest CFTC data showed more heavy selling by money managers across the energy complex as of last Tuesday with a new decrease in bets on higher prices of more than 120,000 contracts. New short bets on crude oil contracts were also a theme for the week as the money manager category continues to show itself as the momentum chasers as those bets decided to wait until after prices had dropped $10/barrel over the prior month to decide to bet on lower prices. Based on the soft finish to end last week, it seems likely there was more selling from hedge funds that we’ll see in this week’s CFTC report, although the volume is probably less than the most recent report.
Baker Hughes reported a net decrease of 3 oil rigs drilling in the US last week while natural gas rigs increased by 1. Natural gas prices in the US had a healthy rally to a 3-month high last week after a brutal quarter for producers. It’s worth noting that the rally in US natural gas prices far outpaced the stagnant price moves of the main European contract, which suggests that the US market is starting to price in an increase in LNG exports while Europe maintains healthy supplies, in stark contrast to the market of 2 years ago when a dire supply situation in Europe created huge price swings in both US natural gas and diesel prices.
The EIA this morning highlighted how Brazil led a shift in countries buying Russian diesel exports over the past year, which has helped maintain the country’s product and cash flows despite widespread sanctions. The data provided showed an increase in year-on-year diesel exports as of March, which is when the refinery strikes picked up their pace, so we’ll still need to wait a while longer to get a good read on the direct impact of those strikes.
Chevron Pasadena, Valero Pt Arthur and Delek Big Spring all reported upsets to the TCEQ over the weekend, although none of the facilities appear to have had to reduce run rates as a result. The Big Spring filing noted a lightning strike as the cause of the upset, adding to the long list of weather woes at that facility.
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Energy Futures Are Caught Up In Headline Tug-O-War This Morning
Energy futures are caught up in headline tug-o-war this morning with Canadian oil production concerns and a positive US GDP report trying to push prices higher while sinking Chinese demand worries and Gaza ceasefire hopes are applying downward pressure. The latter two seem to be favored more so far this morning with WTI and Brent crude oil futures down ~45 cents per barrel, while gasoline and diesel prices are down about half a cent and two cents, respectively.
No news is good news? Chicago gasoline prices dropped nearly 30 cents yesterday, despite there not being any update on Exxon’s Joliet refinery after further damage was discovered Wednesday. Its tough to say if traders have realized the supply situation isn’t as bad as originally thought or if this historically volatile market is just being itself (aka ‘Chicago being Chicago’).
The rain isn’t letting up along the Texas Gulf Coast today and is forecasted to carry on through the weekend. While much of the greater Houston area is under flood watch, only two refineries are within the (more serious) flood warning area: Marathon’s Galveston Bay and Valero’s Texas City refineries. However, notification that more work is needed at Phillip’s 66 Borger refinery (up in the panhandle) is the only filing we’ve seen come through the TECQ, so far.
Premiums over the tariff on Colonial’s Line 1 (aka linespace value) returned to zero yesterday, and actually traded in the negatives, after its extended run of positive values atypical of this time of year. Line 1’s counterpart, Line 2, which carries distillates from Houston to Greensboro NC, has traded at a discount so far this year, due to the healthy, if not over-, supply of diesel along the eastern seaboard.
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WTI And Brent Crude Oil Futures Are Trading ~$1.50 Per Barrel Lower In Pre-Market Trading
The across-the-board drawdown in national energy stockpiles, as reported by the Department of Energy yesterday, stoked bullish sentiment Wednesday and prompt month gasoline, diesel, and crude oil futures published gains on the day. Those gains are being given back this morning.
The surprise rate cut by the People’s Bank of China is being blamed for the selling we are seeing in energy markets this morning. While the interest rate drop in both short- and medium-term loans won’t likely affect energy prices outright, the concern lies in the overall economic health of the world’s second largest economy and crude oil consumer. Prompt month WTI and Brent crude oil futures are trading ~$1.50 per barrel lower in pre-market trading, gasoline and diesel are following suit, shaving off .0400-.0450 per gallon.
Chicagoland RBOB has maintained its 60-cent premium over New York prices through this morning and shows no sign of coming down any time soon. Quite the opposite in fact: the storm damage, which knocked Exxon Mobil’s Joliet refinery offline on 7/15, seems to be more extensive than initially thought, potentially extending the repair time and pushing back the expected return date.
There are three main refineries that feed the Chicago market, the impact from one of them shutting down abruptly can be seen in the charts derived from aforementioned data published by the DOE. Refinery throughput in PADD 2 dropped 183,000 barrels per day, driving gasoline stockpiles in the area down to a new 5-year seasonal low.
While it seems all is quiet on the Atlantic front (for now), America’s Refineryland is forecasted to receive non-stop rain and thunderstorms for the next four days. While it may not be as dramatic as a hurricane, flooding and power outages can shut down refineries, and cities for that matter, all the same, as we learned from Beryl.