Energy Market Updates

In the last 6 sessions we have seen ULSD futures slide just over $.50 in value.  While this is good news, the previous 6 sessions added just about the same amount. So basically we are back to the same levels we were mid-August where we all felt pretty positive pricing was moving in the right direction. Much of the rise can be attributed to money being put into the market as an inflation hedge as rates continue to rise, though it is tough to keep that money in long term with the ever present backwardation. 

The slide the last week has come as demand concerns continue to make headlines and more currently China is again locking down several major cities with COVID concerns.  Yesterdays inventory report seemed Bullish on the surface with draws on all products but like anything, the devil is in the details.  Many saw the latest news cycle highlighting the possibility of fuel shortages coming this winter.  A good explanation shows in this weeks report.  Refiners are operating at pre-Pandemic levels, yet domestic inventories of finished products are still down- the key factor is that our exports of gas and distillates are up over 500m b/d over last year. 

Again, it is still better for companies to ship products overseas to get 5x the value than if it were to sell into the US markets.  Forcing US producers to sell into US markets versus formerly heavily Russian supplied countries may appear as abandonment in their time of need politically speaking, and moreover, will that force those countries to “amend” Russian import sanctions……thus it’s a delicate balance.  

The field seems to be mixed on the last few months of the year in where pricing will be headed although the common theme is that the volatility, up or down, is here for a while.

The past two weeks has seen ULSD rise, and subsequently fall almost $.20 on the front month.  Much of the dip in the last few days came as market players were able to digest some of the details in the 785 page Inflation Reduction Act which appears to moving its way through.  One piece which many believe will have the most impact on futures is that the bill revives lease sales canceled or delayed by President Biden including: one in Alaska’s Cook Inlet  and three in the Gulf of Mexico.  This section also appears to require the Biden Administration to adopt Trump era directives for 2022 oil and gas leasing established.

 Yesterday was clearly driven by inventories and demand concerns with gasoline.  However, distillates were the red headed step child, shrugging off any loses and actually finishing the day higher as demand numbers stayed healthy and inventories dipped.  Crude and gasoline took all the attention with a surprise build in crude and an almost 8mbpd drop in gasoline demand.  It’s really an odd disconnect but many of us actually see it on a daily basis.  Construction, trucking, etc remains strong but on a personal level we may be starting to pull back our own driving habits. 

An OPEC+ hike of 100,000 bpd is rather insignificant as they usually over produce or under produce by that much anyway.  Markets will always have bounces in either direction but often time the trend is still intact, and it appears the downward trend is still there. 

With Friday and Mondays' sessions cutting into the recent losses on ULSD by about $.35, it’s important to keep in mind the trend is still your friend. With early morning action seeing ULSD down $.08, we are still down over $.80 in the last few weeks. 

Downward pressure continues on the pit with yesterday’s build across the board on crude and products, the Inventory report erased nearly all of the early morning gains.  Inventories are now almost to the low end of the 5 year average. 

The daily volatility in both gas and diesel makes it extremely difficult to provide quotes.  Shameless plug….  The DKB Exchange allows you to secure real time pricing on product…..   Yesterday, ULSD was up almost $.11 at one point and down over $.05 before closing up marginally $.0033 to $3.6659.   

Inflation is now at a 40 year high, which also posed concerns as its widely expected we will see another rate hike by the FED, which will likely pressure demand and continue to push futures down.  This time of year we always have to keep in mind NOAA hurricane estimates, and with an “above Normal” estimate in place with 14-21 named storms for this season, there could be some storm premiums shed in the market if this does not materialize.   Supplies of finished product still remain tight in areas with the backwardation not going away, albeit getting smaller. 

The hope is, that in the next 60 days or so we get back to normal spreads.

In just over two weeks time, front month ULSD is down $1.00, with over $.50 coming in the last two sessions alone. 

It appears that many decided over the long holiday weekend that there is a real concern of a global recession on the horizon.  The economic contraction would ultimately be a demand killer.  Funny thing about recessions is that we are typically in them for a quarter prior to actually labeling it officially.  A recent GDP tracker indicated that the US contracted 2.1% in Q2.  Adding a Citibank forecast posted Tuesday putting WTI Crude trading in the $65 range by years end should a recession take hold.  Currently WTI is just under $100 at $99.41. This along with a surprise build in crude inventories of 3.8mbls pushed all products sharply lower yesterday despite larger than expected draws in both gas and distillates. 

The question remains if the fundamentals in the fuel markets still exist or if this is merely a speculative long position fear sell off.  As we mentioned earlier, domestically, we have the crude.  However, we lack the ability to transport and refine it quickly.  This fear/reality is what was primarily responsible for this years rise.  Shortages were and are real, but they appear to be getting better.  The backwardation prevented many from putting any finished product in tank for fear of overnight value losses.  The backwardation in ULSD still exists but is only about $.05 month to month, at one point it was over .$30. 

The good news bad news appears to be what is coming, we should see lower energy prices and more product available, but other economic indicators will likely suffer. 

Over the last 2 weeks front month ULSD has risen almost $.80  in futures trading,  but it looks like the driver of the run up maybe that crazy cousin RBOB.  Gasoline typically rises this time of year but many thought this year would be different.  Sky high retail prices and massive inflation concerns were thought to put a dent on demand.  However, this weeks inventory report showed a surprise draw in gasoline stocks and strong demand numbers.  It may be a holiday weekend anomaly, but Americans appear to be taking it all in stride, thus giving buyers no reason not to keep buying. 

Diesel has been the passenger the last two weeks.   With a surprise build in inventories (still lowest levels since 2005), most believe it would take a substantially large increase to derail the upward trend.  Demand numbers started to show softening, which is concerning to many, as it may start to show some slowing in the US business cycles. 

While OPEC agreed to hike production for July & August by about 600bpd and China put the kibosh on fully reopening major cities, futures shrugged it off as we have only had 2 down days in the last 14 sessions.  Physical supply issues in the Northeast is still a lingering concern as the backwardation, while thinning, is still $.10  to AUG and $.18 to SEPT (see close chart).  This is preventing many from bringing in large slugs of product on fear of the carry loss.  Put it this way.  If you were to buy a house today for $500,000 but were told that in 20 days it would only be worth $400,000, would you do it? 

At this point, it appears that the only thing that will bring us back to reasonable levels is strong builds in inventories which will only come with a reduction in the backwardation which will likely occur with weakening demand.  And let us not forget the Ukraine and export situation.

Diesel prices remain the talk of the table as they have shed over $1.00 in the last 15 days.  Spot cash prices which at one point in early May were $1.25 over futures have since retraced to be roughly $.20 over.   Still, by way of comparison, high to the first quarter of the year where they were pegged mostly flat  to the screen.   (see below). 

As we mentioned, these blowouts are typically short lived - but nonetheless still very painful for many. 

Northeast diesel supply appears to be slowly loosening up as the backwardation from JUNE to JULY screens sits at roughly $.13, still very high but not as high as a two weeks ago.  While some suppliers are willing to take in product, it has made rack pricing extremely volatile.  Typical spreads from high to low are maybe $.08 to $.10, at present, these spreads are $.40 to $1.00, not to mention figuring out who actually has product to sell.  On que, refiners' distillate production is up over 5% thus far in Q2, capitalizing on the high prices and pipeline scheduling appears to be full.  While this a good news for consumers, we are still at very high prices. 

With China slowly reopening, expected high US gas demand and all eyes on the FED wondering if there will be another rate hike to tame inflation, I would expect it to be a while before we start to see substantially lower prices. 

The suggested release of diesel reserves is not typically looked at as a fix of underlying issues, more of like taking aspirin for a tooth ache, and will likely not have much of an effect on pricing. 

There is a fair amount of news on the lack of diesel available in the northeast, and it is actually true. Last week’s DOE report showed that PADD 1 (East Coast) had 95mbls of diesel, that is down from 123mbls last year and 142mbls from 2 years ago. 

The question is why? 

There are primarily three main roots to the current situation.  First, the East Coast has only about 7 refineries operating now, with a capacity of just over 800,000 bpd.  That is about half from what it was 12 years ago.  Most have closed due to lack of margins and increasingly more difficult EPA standards to meet and the costs associated with those updates.  This means product must come from the Gulf coast via the Colonial pipeline or barged in. 

Secondly, with the steep backwardation in the market, many traders were not willing to take the chance on sending product into the Northeast. Rather, they are taking the sure bet by shipping distillates to Europe. 

Finally, Europe’s diesel based economy is seeing astronomical pricing for the much needed product.   With about 10% of their typical supply coming from Russia, the ongoing conflict in the Ukraine is pushing pricing for distillate barrels to record highs. 

Again, we know refiners are putting out as much distillates as they can right now.  There will be some trying to capitalize on the current high prices and once those barrels hit, we should see some price easing.  It is just a matter of when.

The volatility within the ULSD pit continues to keep everyone scrambling.  $.20 swings from high to low have become the norm.  That coupled the lack of product in the Northeast is putting real stress on not only suppliers but customers alike.  As we mentioned a few days ago, refiners are stocking up on crude and producing as much distillates as they can.  Evident in yesterdays Inventory report that showed Crude surge 8.5mbls and distillate output up over 160,000 bpd.  While diesel inventories still remain low, down almost 1mbls, the demand numbers, down almost 200bpd are pointing to sure fire demand destruction. 

Again, the timing of when that downward drop may take hold is tough to tell.  Judging by the chart below, we may already be at the beginning stages of it.  The backwardation of roughly .20 JUNE to JULY is still keeping many from bringing in any inventory which is keeping cash prices high.  Those differentials, at historic highs, really have only one way to go I would like to think. 

Most of us are hoping to wake up to pit that is down $.50 but it seems that the market is always able to find something to erase the losses.  Today is a perfect example.  ULSD was down almost .20 earlier and found a way to get almost .04 higher during the session.  As I type it is down roughly $.04.  Inflationary risk buying appears to be the driver, which I would have though that we would have seen less of as last month’s squeeze that sent shockwaves through the market with lingering effects. 

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The other day I mentioned how the futures markets rose, yet the cash markets fell.  Yesterday was the reverse for some.  While ULSD futures closed down $.1557 to $4.0413, ARGUS cash trading edged up .0193.  We are obviously in the most volatile period I have seen in all my years.  

Of note in the last day we have heard that OPEC+ nations will stick to their planned production increases that were set in place back in July 2021 rather than opening the spigots to temper prices.  Additionally, it appears as though most European nations will move forward with a stepped embargo plan of Russian fuels. 

The backwardation in the diesel pit over the last two weeks put crimp on in tank inventories especially here in the Northeast.  That situation appears to be getting better as the JUNE to JULY backward spread is roughly $.20 and word is that the supply picture is getting better.  But again, when prices shoot up like a rocket, they fall like a feather.  It will take some time for these prices to get back to a “normal” level as it noted that most refiners have moved to what is called Max Distillate Production,  meaning they are trying to produce the most Diesel, Jet Fuel, Heating oil, etc. possible, so that they can capitalize on the high crack spread. 

We have said many times before, high prices are the cure for high prices. 

As you have all now seen street diesel prices over $6 per gallon, this has to be a hit on demand in the short term and those extra distillate barrels should hit the market at the same time.  I would like to see us retrace a $1.00 from here, but my guess is that it might take the summer to do so. Then again, as shown below on March 9^th we did drop almost .50 in a day.  I would think we would need a cease fire in Ukraine for that to occur.

Unfortunately you are all reading your nightly pricing correctly.  As seen below, ULSD prices have risen almost a full $1 in the last four sessions. 

As I mentioned earlier in the week, it is likely due to a short squeeze versus anything fundamentally related to the Oil Markets.  Although there are some pointing to distillate stocks being at their lowest level in 14 years as a driver, it appears that is being over played because demand for ULSD has fallen for the fifth week in a row. 

Front month MAY ULSD (which falls off the board Friday) is a full $1 higher than JUNE trading presently at $4.9950.  It is $1.50 higher than front moth NL @ $3.5250.  Its important to note the disconnect to Crude which is “only” at $103 and change.  For those of you that remember July of 2008, when Crude was at an all time high of $147, Diesel was trading just above $4.00.  All the more evidence to point towards a squeeze versus fundamental factors. 

The problem is, how long does this last?   Looking at the strip above, the backwardation is still healthy out through December, not as pronounced but still present. 

I would like to say that we are past this after Friday, but my feeling is the rocket ship-feather theory will hold true.