Market Commentary
Shell Takes Three Offshore Drilling Rigs Offline
August 12, 2022
Shell was forced to shut in production on three Gulf of Mexico offshore deep water platforms due to a pipe issues. This will impact 410,000 bpd of production. This week is a volatile one with early down days finishing higher and early up days finishing lower. This is the result […]
Lower Gas Prices Offer Inflation Relief
August 10, 2022
The API weekly inventory numbers called crude oil stocks up 2.15 million barrels, gasoline stocks down 627,000 and distillates up 1.37 million. The Reuters survey for today’s DOE reports is saying crude oil and gasoline to be down 400,000 and diesel to be roughly unchanged. Crude oil prices feel slightly […]
OPEC+ Raises Production Minimally
August 4, 2022
OPEC+ agreed to increase production by just 100,000 bpd which is nothing really, but they did up the number. The market has rallied and now sold off to roughly the same price level when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. The market is now looking for the next catalyst to […]
Propane Inventories Near Bottom Range of 5-Year Average
August 3, 2022
The average estimates for today’s DOE inventory report from the Bloomberg survey are for crude to be down 798,00 barrels, gasoline down 1.014 million barrels and distillates up 740,000 barrels. In propane, weak domestic demand has led to larger than expected inventory builds and, despite growth in domestic production, propane […]
Manufacturing Demand Slows Across the Globe
August 2, 2022
JP Morgan said its Brent crude oil price forecast continues to call for a stabilization in price towards the low $100s in the second half of 2022 and the high 90s in 2023. It said “our oil strategists’ flag that the risk of a recession is not yet priced into […]
IMF Warns Inflation and War Could Push Global Economy to Brink of Recession
July 27, 2022
The API report estimated crude stocks down 4 million barrels, gasoline stocks down 1.1 million barrels and distillates stocks down 554,000 barrels. The International Monetary Fund cut global growth forecast again on Tuesday, warning the downside risks from high inflation and the Ukrainian war were materializing and could push the […]
Nord Stream 1 Flow Reductions Prompt Questions of Russian Retaliation for Sanctions
July 26, 2022
Gazprom has reduced rates on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to 20% of normal after the restart from maintenance just a few days ago. The line was first at 40% but is now cut back to 20% because Gazprom says they are waiting on a turbine that was repaired in […]
White House Advisor Urges Discontinuation of Releases from Strategic Petroleum Reserve
July 25, 2022
US crude oil inventories are 6% below the five year average, gasoline inventories are 3% below the five year average, and distillates are 23% below the five year average. Propane inventories are currently 16% below the five year average. The Baker Hughes Rig Count had oil rigs unchanged on the […]
European Central Banks Raise Rates for First Time in 11 Years
July 22, 2022
The energy markets were down hard in early trading but did rally back off their lows. WTI crude oil settled $1.76 off its low. RBOB gas was $0.1246 cents off its low of the day and ULSD was $0.1673 cents of its low of the day. Lower demand, concerns about […]
US Home Builder Confidence Wanes
July 19, 2022
Crude oil inventories at Cushing, Okla., the delivery point for the NYMEX WTI futures contracts, are at 21.6 million barrels, the lowest seasonal level since 2014. Stocks have not been this low since 2008, when front-month WTI crude prices were at $122 (or $170 per barrel adjusted for inflation). Energy […]
Recession Fears Weight on Market Despite Limited Supplies
July 18, 2022
President Joe Biden met with officials from Saudi Arabia on Friday, and the bottom line is that it did not yield any action to produce more crude oil. This has again increased the concerns about supply and should offer some support to prices. Of course, both sides are reporting a […]
Fed Likely to Remain Aggressive Against Blistering Inflation
July 14, 2022
The EIA inventory report said that crude oil stocks were up 3.25 million barrels, gasoline stocks up 5.83 million barrels and distillates up 2.67 million barrels. Builds across the board is a welcome thing but take the over six million barrels SPR release and crude stocks over all are down. […]