Energy Market Updates

The obvious market moving story is the impact on world fuel markets of the Hamas – Israeli conflict that appears to be growing more intense by the day.  As traders are trying to digest what could turn into a regional mess, expect wild swings for the short term. 

At the root is how much, if any, was Iran involved as they have openly backed Hamas.  Furthermore, the US and others, have been turning a blind eye to Iran’s oil production in an effort to keep global markets well supplied.  It is a tight rope to walk for sure.  Putting downward pressure on markets in the US are revised demand figures that are now to said to be about 25% less than originally forecasted through the end of 2025.  For a variety of factors which we all are seeing on a daily basis be it better fuel efficiencies, alternative energies, or just a slowdown.  Additionally, it started to come out that Saudi Arabia is not abiding by their self imposed cuts, news struck that the Kingdom has agreed to fully supply several far east customers.   My sense is that we will bounce around this current range just below $3.00 on the screen before ultimately pulling back some more.

Even though pricing remains high in the near term, it still important to look further out.  Next spring distillate pricing remains significantly less than current pricing and some bargains might exist.  For budgeting purposes, bidding jobs, or locking in pricing, we can assist you for your organizations specific needs. Schedule a Call

What a wild start to 2020 for the oil markets! 

Friday saw morning trading jump ~4% on the Pentagon's confirmation that the United States had launched airstrikes and taken out Iran's top commander in Iraq. Prices gave back about half their gains during trading on Friday with the settle at $63.05/bbl Crude, $2.0614 ULSD & $1.7488 RBOB. 

Gains continued to slowly pare off through trading Monday & Tuesday, for the most part.

That is until Tuesday night. 

After a few day's of relative quiet (outside of Twitter, anyway), last night Iran commenced retaliatory strikes against the US by launching missiles at two US Bases in Iraq housing military members, as well as towards the US consulate in Ebril (the consulate was not hit). There were no casualties in the strikes. 

Upon news of the missile strikes, the market shot up almost 5% on overnight trading. 

Despite the overnights being up so sharply, by today's open when it was clear there were not massive US casualties (which would all but guarantee further action), the market was essentially flat and plummeted through the day as news updates became available.

Today's round of press conferences and news briefs indicated strongly that Iran was signaling that they would not retaliate further, and as of the moment the US position is apparently to de-escalate by working on sanction proposals versus further military strikes. Of course, both of these positions are subject to change at a moments notice, and it's entirely possible sanctions are interpreted by Iran as escalation, but for the moment we at least have some calm on the Iran/US tension front and hopefully that continues. 

At the close,Crude settled out below $60/bbl again, at $59.61, ULSD shed .0742 to close at $1.9582, and RBOB lost .0734 to settle at $1.6488. 

Stay Tuned! 

Today, the market surged up to 4% on intraday highs as the Pentagon confirmed that US Airstrikes in Bahgdad killed Iran's top commander, Qasem Soleimani. Soleimani was considered to be responsible for the attacks by Iran on the US Embassy earlier this week, and the strikes have been framed as a retaliation for those attacks, as well as a preemptive action to prevent alleged further attacks in the works on US targets in the region.

This afternoon, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei promised retaliation ("Severe Revenge"), and the US announced that 3500 additional troops would be deploying to the Middle East. 

Concerns are obviously mounting about the nature of Iranian retaliation for the strikes, with the major concerns being either an escalation to war between the US & Iran, or that we will see Iran begin to attack crucial infrastructure in the region again, like they allegedly did in Saudi Arabia this past September. 

It is important to remember however, that when last September's attack took 5.7mmb out of global supply instantaneously, and essentially halved Saudi Arabia's production capacity, the markets spiked, but had essentially returned to flat within a few trading days.

That is to say - it's anyone's guess whether we continue to climb or the market does a quick turnaround over the next week of trading.

We did back off intraday highs by the close, where ULSD was up +.0373 to 2.0614, RBOB was up +.0446 to 1.7488, and Crude settled at $63.05/bbl.

However, the story is still developing so it's hard to know what impact any late afternoon & weekend developments may or may not have on the the electronics as well as Monday's open. 

Stay Tuned! 

Saturday, ten unmanned drones struck a major Saudi Aramco facility in Saudi Arabia, and immediately took 5.7 million barrels out of the global supply. The Abqaiq plant that was impacted is one of the world's largest processors. 

The Saudi government indicated that Iranian weapons were responsible but stopped short of blaming Iran for the attack, (although US Secretary of State Pompeo did NOT stop short and explicitly called Iran out in a series of tweets).

Yemeni Houthi rebels have taken credit for the strike, and threatened further escalation but it's unclear if they are, in fact, responsible.

Initial reports seem to indicate the attack did not come from Yemen, but Iran has denied any involvement. A lot of the long range implications of the attack will of course hinge on whether military escalation from other nations becomes probable, which directly depends on whether Iran, Yemeni rebels, or a third party was responsible. 

Markets reacted in a big way - Crude was up on the overnights, and Crude, ULSD & RBOB all surged within seconds of the open, and never came back down. 

At the close, ULSD was up a whopping +.2060 to $2.0838, RBOB +.1993 to $1.7524 and Crude $62.90 (+8.05 over Friday's settle) 

This is still a developing story - CNN has a great, continually updating article you can follow new developments on in real time here: Saudi Attacks Send Oil Prices Soaring 

After starting the morning up on the EIA inventory reports of large crude draws (-6.9 mmb), the NYMEX dropped later through today's trading, as more information about the firing of US National Security Advisor John Bolton came to light, and as global demand growth estimates were revised downward yet again. 

The reason an Advisor firing is at all relevant to the oil markets is: Iran.

There was speculation immediately that Bolton's firing was a good sign for US-Iranian relations, and as details emerge it seems that speculation was not only accurate, but an undersell.

Bloomberg is reporting that the Administration discussed easing sanctions in order to broker meetings with Iranian President Rhouhani and kickstart negotiations. Evidently the support voiced for doing so led to a blowout of sorts that prompted the firing. 

Prices dropped almost instantaneously on the news that sanctions could potentially be eased on Iran. 

Additionally, today OPEC's estimates for global growth demand were revised downward (but worth noting is that the revision puts their estimates in line with those of other analysts and economists already existent predictions). The EIA numbers were revised slightly down yesterday as well (down 100,000 bpd from the August prediction to 900,000 bpd).

Overall it appears that for at least today's session, the current market of OPEC cuts and US domestic crude draws did not outweigh longer term concerns about a potential future supply glut in the face of low growth demand. 

At the close, Crude settled at $55.75/bbl, ULSD shed .0280 to close at $1.9032, and RBOB dropped .0209 to close at $1.5699

We'll have to see what happens tomorrow. 

 

This past Friday, ahead of the scheduled OPEC meeting this week, Saudi Arabia abruptly announced a new Energy Minister, Prince Adbulaziz. The move sparked momentary concern that this was a signal the Saudi's would be reversing course on the OPEC+ production cut agreement, but it appears they are actually doubling down.

The kingdom announced they would be adhering to and encouraging the production cuts going forward, and Russian officials announced that they fully anticipated continuing the current trajectory with the new leadership. 

This consensus initially let prices continue their several day climb, with WTI hitting a 6 week high momentarily ... BUT!

But this afternoon, the Trump Administration announced the firing of US National Security Advisor John Bolton.

Bolton was extremely vocal regarding his hardline stance against Iran, and his "resignation" may be a positive signal for future progress on peace talks with Iran, and in the near term, may be a good move to de-escalate the current situation, a lot of which has impacted the oil industry via threats to tankers & the threat to block the Strait of Hormuz. 

Prices have backed off intraday highs following the Bolton announcement. Essentially any hint of resolution with Iran, while positive, also renews concerns about Iranian supply flooding the market, and that is pushing down on pricing (despite the prematurity of any concern). 

Time will tell how the interplay between production cuts and lingering supply concerns levels out, particularly depending on inventory reporting (which we should see tomorrow) and domestic production.

For today, at the close, we ended essentially flat. ULSD +.0035 to $1.9312, RBOB +.0062 to $1.5908

Stay Tuned! 

 

The NYMEX tumbled back down today, erasing Friday's rally. At the close, ULSD shed .0546 to $1.8356, and RBOB dropped .0635 to $1.7180, with Crude closing at $54.69, which puts us back in the territory we saw on Thursday, essentially. (We were $1.8529, $1.7499 and $53.95 at the close Thursday after record slides).

The NYMEX wasn't the only market down today, as global stock markets slid on US/China trade war tensions.

So today, China threatened retaliatory action after the Trump Administration did not back down from tariff imposition threats. And then (stop me if you have heard this one before) Chinese currency hit suspicious new lows against the US dollar, which prompted renewed accusations of currency manipulation on the part of China by President Trump, which didn't sit well with Wall Street, who is looking for any sign of hope that tariffs and a potential full on trade war are not looming on the horizon....And then everything tumbled across the board, from the Dow Jones to the Nikkei. Phew. 

Bank of America also announced today that should China choose to purchase Iranian oil in response to US Tariffs, we could see oil tumble to "$20-$30/bbl" (although they did not revise their 2020 prediction of $60/bbl). The decision to purchase from Iran would serve to both weaken the impact of US backed sanctions on that country, as well as take a substantial amount of the impact out of the tariffs imposed on China. However, the move would not be without consequence, as Iran would be stepping outside the agreed upon production cut strategy in the region and that would likely not go over well with their neighbors (particularly Saudi Arabia) and would essentially force a heavier partnership than China may be interested in maintaining.

On the fundamentals, supply is still vastly outpacing demand, and economic indications continue to suggest that global demand will continue to soften. Whatever does or does not happen in terms of shorter news cycle events - seized tankers, trade disagreements, etc, the fundamental supply/demand levels will ultimately dictate a large portion of where crude & refined products settle out.... at least until another short term cycle event throws a wrench in the gears.

Stay Tuned!  

 

BREAKING - Iran's Republican Guard has reportedly captured 2 oil Tankers in the Strait of Hormuz this afternoon, one tanker being British and the other Liberian flagged.

News broke of the first  around 1:30pm EST, the second being just announced 3:15pm EST. 

So far the market is up but not sharply, but it's unclear that the impact of news of a second vessel has hit yet. The obvious fear with multiple seizures is that Iran plans to deliver on the perpetual threat of closing the Strait of Hormuz, although it is obviously entirely too soon to make any such prediction. 

CNN is live updating on the unfolding situation, you can follow those updates here:  CNN - Iran Seizes Tankers in Strait of Hormuz

The NYMEX is up big this afternoon in the wake of surprise draws in inventories, ongoing international issues, and the potential closure of the largest gasoline refinery on the East Coast. 

Inventories: Crude was projected to drop ~2.5mmb but EIA data showed a surprise drop of a whopping 12.79mmb for the week ending June 21.

Gasoline & Distillates were both expected to show builds, but gasoline drew down 1 mmb, and distillates dropped 2.44mmb (projections were for builds of 0.29mmb & 0.52mmb, respectively).

Crude jumped over 3% on the news, and refined products shot up as well. Gas has been up over 8 cents most of the day, with diesel up .04-.05. 

At the close, Crude settled at $59.38, ULSD jumped .0479 to $1.9713, and Gasoline was up .0932 to $1.9704

International Tensions The ongoing tension between the US & Iran continues to make markets nervous as we wait to see what the next steps may be after the abrupt calling off of air strikes last week in response to Iran shooting down an American drone. 

Continuing concern about the ongoing saga regarding US-China relations and the potential ramifications of proposed tarriffs on Chinese manufactured goods is also serving to keep markets on edge. 

The G20 Summit is slated for this week, and all eyes are on reported meetings to occur between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Saudi Crown Prince. The previously scheduled OPEC meeting for the end of this month has been postponed, purportedly in order to allow for Russia & Saudi Arabia to discuss the so called OPEC+ deal on production caps, and what the ongoing supply curbs under that deal may look like at the summit. 

Refinery Closures  In addition to inventory draw downs, the Philadelphia Refinery that suffered an explosion last week when a vat of butane ignited is reportedly seeking to shut down permanently. The site is the largest gasoline refinery on the East Coast, and the long term supply impacts of it's shuttering could be substantial.

Stay Tuned!

 

  

 

Gasoline spiked this morning, after a refinery explosion shook Southern Philadelphia. At around 4am, a butane vat exploded at the East Coast's largest  refinery, causing large fires and prompting an shelter in place order for the surrounding areas. There are no injuries reported, and CNBC is reporting the flames were relatively controlled with the SIP order lifted around 7am. You can follow this story here: Massive explosion at biggest gas refinery in East Coast 

We won't know how long term an impact refinery issues will cause, but looming larger on the horizon is the US/Iran tensions hitting crisis point. The market has jumped substantially this week in response to the escalations.

In lieu of the deep dive really looking into the Iran/US issues would require, the following is a quick synopsis of what's been happening in the past weeks' escalations: 

Tensions have been simmering since last May, when Trump withdrew the United States from the so-called "Iran Nuclear Deal" reached with that country & President Obama that would have capped uranium enrichment for Iran at 3.67%.

• Last week, as discussed, oil vessels were attacked in the Gulf of Oman.  The Trump Administration has placed the blame on Iran for the vessel attacks, although it is unconfirmed still at this moment in time. 
• Monday, Iran announced that by the 27th, they would officially breach the caps on uranium enrichment set by the "Iran Nuclear Deal"  As mentioned, the Trump Admin withdrew from that deal in 2018, but it is important to remember that the other countries involved did not withdraw, the deal was supposedly still in effect between Iran & several other European nations.
• In response to the announcement about uranium, President Trump announced he would be redirecting 1,000 troops to the Middle East.
• Thursday, Iran shot down an unmanned US drone. Iran claimed the drone was within Iranian airspace, while the US argues their coordinates show the drone within International airspace near the Strait of Hormuz (there is about a 9 mile variance between the coordinates cited by Iran and those cited by the US)
• Thursday night, President Trump ordered retaliatory strikes on Iran, but held off at the last minute. According to him, he called off the strike because the expected casualty rate would be higher than what he considered proportional to the attack by Tehran, so it is unclear whether a different type of retaliatory strikes will commence in the next several days. (This is still developing, follow live updates here: "Trump confirms he called off retaliatory strike against Iran in last minutes" 

We will continue to keep an eye on developing news and how it impacts the market.

If you have questions regarding current pricing, or want to learn about the options for fixed prices or prompts available in the face of volatility in the market, please don't hesitate to reach out. 

Stay tuned!