Energy Market Updates

After last weeks well scripted Iranian Strike on Israel, it appears that the short term range has tightened at a new comfort level. While diesel futures settle below the...

If you were one of the ones I spoke with Sunday evening after news of Irans strike on Israel, you knew I was all in that we were headed for new highs.  In what turned out to be a Nothingburger without any Mac Sauce, Israel and their allies basically played space invaders on Iranian drones and missiles.  US aircraft were said to have neutralized over 30% of the weapons alone.  It will be interesting to see how Irans street cred is affected going forward, as we sit now, the market is unwinding a healthy chunk of the threat premium that’s been added in recent months.  ULSD futures now sit below the much talked about support level of $2.60.    

Special Friday edition! Last week we said fuels were at a pivotal stage and could see some downside. Well, like the Weatherman, it was 50-50 shot. In diesels, we are...

Not to brag, but I cook a mean steak.  Most hate the process, but enjoy the results.  It’s takes time and patience to get the perfect medium rare.  No quick fixes or shortcuts….  Same can be said about fuel pricing the last 30 days.  Even though diesel pricing is down over $.40 since mid September, it has been a real grind getting here.   The Israeli – Hamas conflict continues to be the flame keeping front month prices elevated.  As concern of this developing into a much larger regional conflict persist.  Domestically, fundamentals have kept pricing in check as Inventories have shown a mixed bag, but the real news is in the demand numbers.  Gasoline demand is down slightly over last week and last year, while distillate demand was down a whopping 8% to last week, yet up 5% to last year.  Trucking tonnage, the blood pressure of the transportation industry and overall economy, was down 4.1% in September over last year. (trucking is ¾ of all transportation modes in the US) this typically signals weaker pricing to follow.  Add in that IEA recently published they see peak Oil demand to hit in 2030, vastly different that OPEC’s estimation of 2045. 

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. 

Continuing fallout over the downed Malaysian jetliner led to increased international tensions today (deja vu?). Russia called US accusations that it supplied the anti aircraft missles responsible "groundless". President Obama insisted that Russian involvement warranted further sanctions by Western nations. And thats what we saw happen this afternoon - Canada issued new sanctions targeting financial and energy related companies (much like the US sanctions from last week) and instituted travel bans on certain individuals.