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weekly inventory numbers

NYMEX Drops Again on EIA Data

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Markets dropped again today on continued news of both upticks in supply, and drops in demand. 

The EIA report this morning showed a 2.4 mmb build in Crude, 4.4 mmb build on gas, and 1.5 mmb build on distillates.

The API & other analysts had expected another draw (in the neighborhood of 3.5mmb on Crude), which appeared to be priced into yesterday's trading. Today however, Crude plummeted 2% on the report's release, and refined products dropped steadily throughout the day.

At the close, Crude settled out at $51.09, ULSD was down .0708 to $1.7532, and gas dropped .0670 to $1.6203. 

For the second half of their one-two punch, the EIA also revised down its 2019 World Oil Demand forecast by 70,000 bpd. The 2020 number was not revised down, which is good, but the current year revision is still a worrying signal regarding economic growth, and therefore, longer term demand. 

The Bank of America report from Friday continues to weigh on prices as well, as the ongoing tension between the US and China is being watched carefully. Slowdowns in the Chinese economy are a huge factor for global demand on one hand, but robust growth supplied by (sanctioned) Iranian oil would be perhaps an even worse outcome in terms of market stability and general international relations - both between the US & China, and within the Middle Eastern region.   

It pays to keep in mind that despite how clear cut the drops may seem when looking at supply & demand factors alone - we also have a developing situation in the Middle East, specifically Iran. Sanctions are in play against Iran, and their economy is struggling which promotes civil unrest (as we have seen). Oil tankers are being seized in the Strait of Hormuz, while other vessels smuggle sanctioned oil to unscrupulous buyers, drones are being shot down, and so on.  It's not difficult to imagine that situation spiraling out of control and becoming a serious international crisis far beyond the impact it would have on markets. All of which is to say - it's never a great idea to assume the future is certain for the markets (or anything else). 

Stay tuned!

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Ukraine Tension, Inventory Projections & Chinese Economic Data

World map with Ukraine and Russia highlighted

(Image Credit - Russavia [CC-BY-SA-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons)

Deja Vu - global oil prices are again creeping higher on increasing friction on the Ukraine-Russia standoff, projected inventory numbers, and Chinese economic numbers suggesting slower growth than anticipated. Didn't we just go through this two weeks ago??

Brent CRUDE hit over $110 Tuesday for the first time since March 4th on increasing concern over long term energy supply impacts of the mounting Ukrainian situation, and concerns of potential Western (US) interventions. Tuesday saw Ukranian troops clash with Russians at an occupied airport in Kramatorsk, about 100 miles from the Russian border - the first armed clash thus far in the ongoing power struggle. Tuesday also saw Ukranian troops headed toward the Russian border, counter to the tens of thousands of Russian troops reportedly stationed there. Concerns over potential Western response pushed stock markets lower, including the German DAX and Russian MICEX and pushed Brent and WTI prices up, with Brent hitting $110 as we mentioned, and WTI gaining to as much as 104.99 ahead of Inventory numbers due out later today. 

The primary cited reason for the jumps is the escalations in the Ukraine, but Chinese Economic data is also looking weaker than projected, with economic expansion numbers clocking in at the lowest we've seen in 6 quarters and falling short of the governments stated target of 7.5% growth. On the bright side, the Hariga port in Libya loaded for the first time in July when it was seized and shut down by rebels. 

Domestically, US inventories on gas are projected to show draws of up to 1.75 mb in Bloomberg estimates, while CRUDE is expected to show builds, and distillates are projected to be largely stable. It will be interesting to see how pricing plays out if the EIA report pulls the rug out from under the analysts like it did the last week of March.

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Supplies rise and so does NYMEX??

After last nights wildly bullish API report that had all products showing healthy draws, we were expecting the worse this morning. As DOE’s broke and showed builds across the board, the very bearish report did little to curb the enthusiasm of players. Initial reaction had all the pits shed early gains and prior to the lunch hour most were trading in the red. It was truly an odd day as investors appear to be looking at gasoline demand and how that will affect summer pricing. Psychologically, with MAY Crude falling off the board today, it firmly puts in our heads that summer is here. How much of todays move on HEAT was attributed to European flights resuming remains to be seen. At the Close, JUN Crude fell .17 to $83.68, RBOB added .0018 to $2.2827 and HEAT showed the most strength adding .0256 to $2.2058. However bizarre today was, I would have to think that if there was a little more time in the day all products would have closed negative. Outside influences have overtaken fundamentals currently and when that happens, we usually see a breakout in one direction or the other.

WEEKLY INVENTORY NUMBERS

Crude +1.894

Gasoline +3.587

Distillates +2.096

Utilization 0.3%

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