Ripple Effects of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict and Winter’s Arrival

It’s amazing what the hard times can reveal.  Pricing jumped Monday pushing us to the higher end of our current range as new fear arose with the ongoing Russian- Ukraine conflict.  Reports of US made artillery landing inside Russian borders scared traders into thinking this new development could worsen the global oil supply.   A largely symbolic revelation, it still created a fury of buying and continues to bolster the market.   Not even yesterdays report of very soft demand figures can derail the momentum.  Distillate fuel demand is down roughly 8% versus both last week and last year.  That pulled down pricing slightly, but we are right back up this morning.  Even as the new Administration has publicly announced the intent of restoring the Keystone pipeline project, markets shrugged this off and still focused on the war premium.  Truth be told, demand for Canadien barrels didn’t die with the shutdown, it just shifted the mode of transportation for them, adding incremental dollars to the overall cost.  Also, hate to say it, but it’s here.  Yes, winter.  The regions first blast of snow is scheduled to hit some parts over the next few days.  With winter fuel scheduled to land in the next week or so, you can rest easy that we are on top of keeping you running, no matter how hard it gets.