Energy Market Updates

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RBOB

Prices continue upward; high costs fail to derail consumer demand

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.

 

 

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Crude Hits New Lows After Hopeful Bounce Overnight

Downwards facing arrow constructed of the words oil and brent

Overnight and early trading on Crude was up - bolstered by the performance of the Chinese Markets (they went up instead of crashing hard enough to trigger the circuit breaker this time). US Stocks, bonds and equities all climbed along, and it looked like today was poised for a rally, or at least the proverbial "dead cat bounce"

However, once the temporary amnesia wore off, Iran coming back online came back into play and the markets took a beating across the board.

WTI Crude closed out at $28.46 - slightly below the $28.50 sub-$30 benchmark some analysts had projected (or more likely hoped) would be the new "bottom". That remains to be seen.

ULSD followed suit with WTI, dropping .0256 to settle at $0.9087, while gas was up 50 points to stay in the $1.02 range ($1.0262 to be precise).

Stocks unfortunately also followed suit with WTI  - as of writing  the Nasdaq, Dow Jones, and S&P are all down - keeping 2016 in the red as it has been thus far. 

The EIA inventories later this week could have a major impact, particularly if there are builds. Most predict draws, but a build on gas could be significant as we could in theory see RBOB follow ULSD below the $1 benchmark. 

Stay Tuned!

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Below $30! Crude, Stocks Crash on Iranian Supply and Weak Economics

Black Friday overliad on 100 dollar bills

Yesterday we saw a somewhat unexpected rebound on oil prices and the stock market - but it all came crashing down today. Crude has officially closed out under $30 per barrel - settling at $29.42, the lowest it's been in 12 years. RBOB closed off almost 5 to settle at $1.0212 - dangerously close to the $1 threshold, and ULSD continued its slide down another .0465 to $0.9343.

The US stock market followed suit with commodities - by mid day the Dow & S&P were both down 500 points, with the Nasdaq off 3% as well. 

What's going on?

China's markets plunged another 3+% percent overnight, stoking fears of a continuing global oil glut. Also playing on those fears was today's data from the Federal Reserve indicating US Industrial Production (manufacturing, mining, and utilities) dropped again in December, which is the 3rd month in a row. Both of these indicators are extremely worrisome in terms of demand. 

More importantly however, it's about Iran.

Reports are that "implementation day" - when Iran shows compliance with agreement terms and has their sanctions officially lifted, could be as soon as tommorow. Once sanctions are lifted, Iran is expected to start exporting their Crude storage as soon as possible, which pushed traders to sell, sell, sell today - to the tune of a 5% drop in pricing. It also keeps the outlook on Crude bearish, as the global market can ill afford millions more barrels entering supply, especially in the face of weakening demand from the US & China - the worlds two largest energy consumers. 

"Happy" Friday everyone - here's hoping for better news next week!

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Will Crude Break $30? Will RBOB follow ULSD Below $1?

Picture of a man grasping his head looking at computer screens

Yesterday, Crude briefly dipped below $30 per barrel for the first time in 12 years, before closing slightly over at $30.34. Crude was up on the overnights, as a result of the API forecast projecting draws of close to 4mmb.

The EIA report this morning, however, quickly reversed the market trajectory when it showed a build of 230K barrels. A modest increase, but the market registered it as significant in the face of the projected draws - at least initially.

At the close, Crude was essentially flat, up slightly to $30.48/bbl.

Despite the slight edge up today, so far Crude is still down almost 15% since the end of 2015.

On the refined products side, analysts correctly projected builds in gasoline - sort of. The expectation was a build of 1.6mmb but EIA data indicated an astounding build of 8.4mmb which sent RBOB tumbling, especially as it comes on the heels of last weeks 10.6mmb build.

On top of product builds, gasoline consumption is down a little over 4% compared to this time last year, which is also weighing on RBOB. At the close today, gas was down over 3, settling out at $1.0528.

Two weeks ago the debate was would RBOB break $1.10 - now it looks like the question over the next week or so could very well be "will RBOB follow ULSD below a dollar?"

Distillates showed a build of 6.1mmb as well, and this on the heels of ULSD dropping below $1 on the screen, following its drop on the cash markets. Tuesday broke the $1 level - closing down .0248 to $0.9901, and today ULSD shed another 2 to settle at $0.9694.

In addition to the build, distillate consumption was reported as being down 12% versus this time last year, partially as a reflection of the precipitous drop in heating oil usage due to our unseasonably warm weather.

On a macro level, the Chinese economy continues to stumble, and US stocks continue to get battered as they essentially have been since the opening bell of 2016. Today, as of writing, the Dow is down over 300 points, the Nasdaq is down triple digits as well, and the S&P is officially in correction.

Additionally, as mentioned before, the ongoing standoff between the Saudi's and Iranians after severing diplomatic ties ensures that at least for the time being, OPEC production will remain at record levels. Add in the unseasonably warm weather and the drops in demand/consumption across the board, and all of the sudden that "crazy" projection by some that we could see oil in the $20's doesn't seem so crazy after all.

 

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The Bears Have It - EIA Report Slashes Tuesday's Gains

Downwards aiming arrow with the terms WTI, Oil and Brent inside of it

Today's EIA Inventory Report indicated that Crude Inventories were up 2.8 million barrels for the week ending October 30th, and the market reacted accordingly. API had forecast a build as well, so prior to the EIA release we were trending down about 1%, which accelerated to over 3% once the official numbers came out. 


A few interesting notes about the build - it occurred due to a domestic production increase of 48,000 bpd to 9.16 million bpd. This increase happened despite the Baker Hughes announcement that rig counts dropped another 16 to the lowest level since 2010, and despite US imports falling to their lowest weekly level since 1991. (Down to 6.4 million barrels per day, if you're keeping score at home.)

It also happened despite the fact that every single issue that spiked the market yesterday is still very much in play. The Libyan port is still closed under occupation. The Brazilians are still on strike at PetroBras. The Colonial pipeline's Houston facility is still flooded and not allowing any deliveries or originations to occur. (You can get a recap of yesterday here: Monday sinks on Demand, Tuesday Surges on Supply )

And yet here we are, narrowly missing a complete reversal of yesterdays surge across the board. 

Gasoline was projected to show a 1 million barrel drop, but instead dropped 3.3 million barrels - yet RBOB settled down -.0536, not quite erasing yesterday's 7 cent jump but coming close, considering the drop in inventory should in theory have pushed gas further ahead. 

Distillates did the reverse of gasoline stocks - they were projected to drop 1.8 million barrels, but instead dropped 1.3. ULSD closed down .0625 to 1.5035, more than erasing yesterday's jump of just under 6 cents. 

The October Jobs report is likely the next major news for the market, due out Friday. Maybe we will get lucky and get a breather tommorow. One can always hope. 

 

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NYMEX, WTI Jump on Shale Slow Down & Inventory Concerns

Barrels of oil overlaid on a line graph

The NYMEX shot up again today, after trending slightly downward the past several sessions. Last week saw Brent over $65/bbl and today WTI settled out +1.50 to 60.75, over the $60/bbl benchmark we've all been watching for.

ULSD closed up +.0535 to 1.9989, while RBOB shot up over the $2 line again with a gain of +.0529 to settle at 2.0393. 

Our friends at OPEC came out earlier this week to announce they saw no increase in oil prices on the horizon, given they see no decrease in production, and denied reports that there was consideration of reinstituting production quotas to boost prices. This pumped the brakes on the rally temporarily, and resulted in a pummeling of energy stocks in the S&P in the process - most notably Exxon and Chevron shares (Both companies saw gains today, however, on the price reversal).

So what happened today?

Most analysts are crediting a weaker dollar in combination with the monthly drilling report that indicates some slow down in shale production domestically. The EIA projected that output from major shale plays will drop by some 86K bpd in June.

Analysts also expect to see draws in crude on tommorows EIA inventories report, which is almost always good for a few cents worth of upward pressure on the market - at least if they are correct, that is.

Outside of drilling and supply concerns, we once again saw resumed airstrikes in Yemen on the same day a cease-fire was to be discussed.

Deja vu, anyone?

Stay tuned!

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RBOB Heats Up on EIA Inventory Shortfall

Line charts depicting the stock market scattered on a table

Today's EIA Inventory report for the week ending April 17th showed a build of 5.5mmb on Crude, but a drop of 2.1mmb on gasoline. Interestingly, even though analysts had projected a mere 2.6mmb build in Crude while the actuals were more than double that, Crude ticked upwards along side RBOB and ULSD initially before settling back down.

Stocks were up across the board basically today as well, on positive economic signs - 71.9% of S&P companies who have reported earnings have reported earnings above analyst expectations. Additionally, housing sector reports indicate a jump in existing home sales of over 6% for March versus February, which is also an 18 month high - a good sign for the economy and also a factor in pushing todays stocks up. 

On the negative side, bombing resumed today in Yemen, precisely ONE day after peace talks, which may or may not impact the markets tommorow.

At the close, gas retreated from the intraday high of +.0424 to close out at 1.9245 (+.0364) and ULSD closed up +.0176 to 1.8708, with Crude closing off -0.45 to 56.16.

Stay tuned!

 

 

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Wild Week on Wall Street & The NYMEX; Everything Keeps on Tumbling!

 

Today was another wild day on the market, with ULSD closing down another .0376 to 2.0464, and RBOB closing out down a whopping .0818 to 1.6418. Analysts are crediting this with an "unexpected" increase in Crude stockpiles. WTI fell -2.60/bbl to 60.94, well below the previous 5 year low.

Monday was down as well, closing out -.0529 on ULSD and -.0668 on RBOB gasoline.

We saw a small jump up yesterday (ULSD +.0291 and RBOB +.0170) - likely just a bump-in-the-road overcorrection to stocks tanking on some bad news from Greece and China. This week saw Greek markets tank worse than they did before the crash a few years ago - obviously not good news for the European economy. 

OPEC also became a factor again with Iran railing against falling oil prices as a "conspiracy" and OPEC cutting its output estimate for 2015 to 2.89 million barrels per day, 300K lower than they originally forecast. However, despite the announcement Crude keeps right on plummeting. 

Wall Street Traders have been shouting about the Dow's inevitable march to 18,000, but today saw it close down for the third day in a row. Continuing pressure on stocks given that Fed rate hikes look like they may happen within the 6 month period doesnt bode well for the 18K mark, especially when you factor the weakness in foreign markets into the equation.

The S&P slumped on energy stocks as well, as some companies came out with plans to move on layoffs, restructuring, or selling shale plays. Despite a few plays going up for sale though, production domestically doesnt seem to be slowing down. However, a slow down in production in countries that have a high production cost is probably inevitable if the price hits a certain level - that includes the US and Venezuela. 

So it was a tough week for Wall Street, but the bright spot was for the average consumers as downward pressure keeps pushing down the price of gasoline. The Energy Department dropped its price forecast for retail gasoline to for next year at this time to $2.60/gallon, the second time its been revised down by over 30 cents a gallon since oil began its slide. Another bright spot domestically was an unexpectedly good jobs report on Friday, which is a good signal for the overall economy. 

 

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NYMEX Tanking Despite Inventory Draws

Line charts depicting the stock market scattered on a table

 

The EIA inventory report for the week ending November 7 showed draws in Crude & Distillates, with a build in gasoline. Crude drew down 1.7MMb and distillates drew down 2.8MMb, while gas built 1.8MMb.

Watching the screen though, you wouldnt think we showed draws - ULSD and RBOB are both dropping like the proverbial stone - both products had intraday lows well over 6 cents, with gas dropping down 8 for a few. 

UPDATE - ULSD close 2.3621 (-.0848) and Gas -.1054) - Yikes!! January& February gasoline closed under $2 at 1.9827, and 1.9899, respectively

So whats going on? Why even with a draw down on products, and once again heightening tensions in Russia/Ukraine are commodities dropping?

The jobless number report was higher than anticipated by about 10,000, but the numbers are still are hanging near a 14 year low so that ought not be a huge factor in either commodity numbers, or the stock market. The stock market, by the way, is retreating a little from it's record highs and hanging flat on the back of falling energy shares once again, due to falling prices. 

We still are in the same situation with OPEC and American production being sky high, and global demand due to economic growth being anemic at best, so the dismal supply demand situation is still at play.

Going out on a limb I would credit the extra oomph of todays drop off to lots of news regarding Keystone - with a bill being pushed through to the Senate that will actually make it to the floor, things are being shaken up on the energy front. Word is, in an attempt to save the seat of Landreiu, from Louisianna, who faces a runoff election challenge next month, Senate leader Reid has agreed to allow the legislation to the floor. 

Although most talking heads seem to think Obama will veto - still, the implication is that the midterms probably will be forcing some of the top energy agenda items through, and thats good news  - unless of course you fixed high, in which case dropping energy prices might start hitting you in the wallet very soon. 

How low can we go?

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OPEC Chatter Drives up BRENT, Friday Trading Reverses CRUDE Rally

Line charts depicting the stock market scattered on a table

Thursday saw prices tick up after it was reported that the Saudi's output dropped from 9.69 million barrels to 9.36 million barrels. There has been some chatter and concern around the scheduled OPEC meeting in November. The concern being that OPEC will push curbing supply to stop the price declines we've seen in recent months. Brent Crude was up 3% on the news, the highest its been in 4 months.

However, despite the OPEC chatter, the Saudi's have said they will keep output at scheduled high levels even with lower pricing to maintain market share. Additionally, reportedly only a small number of members have suggested supply curbing.

US Inventories surged on this weeks EIA report as well, up 7.1 million barrels to a little over 377 million barrels, which was about twice what analysts predicted, and hopefully helps to calm some of the potentially unfounded fear of OPEC that's pushing volatility. 

If we look back, the 20% drop in crude pricing we've seen over the past several months have been directly related to an abundance of supply, and with US oil production surging ahead, and the Saudi's not indicating they will initiate any sort of hold back to drive prices up, the situation remains the same and the volatility should back off. However, it's possible that some roller coastering will remain until after the meeting, when its officially settled whether or not we have to worry about supply curbing. 

The market seems to concur today, though, with both Brent and WTI trending back downwards.

ULSD & RBOB are trending down on the NYMEX today as well, down about a penny and a half on both at the moment. Both products closed up significantly yesterday - ULSD +.0256 to 2.499 and gas up +.0513 to 2.2069, which effectively cancelled out Wednesdays drops of .0398 and .0578, for those keeping score at home.

 

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