Market Commentary

Energy prices closed mixed in yesterday’s trading after being significantly higher in the early morning trading hours. Negative news out of China that their economic growth slowed to a GDP of just 4.9% in Q3 down from 7.9% in Q2 due to a slowdown in construction activity and factory output […]

The Baker Hughes Rig Count was up 12 crude oil rigs to a total of 445 and last year at this time there were 205 oil rigs in operation. Crude oil futures hit fresh three-year highs on Friday. Brent crude oil traded above $85 per barrel and WTI traded back […]

The DOE inventory report said that crude oil stocks were up 6.09 million barrels to a total of 426.975 and last year there were 489.109 million barrels and a 62.134 deficit. Cushing, Okla., crude stocks were down 1.968 million barrels to a total of 33.551 million and last year there […]

The API report came out a day late and said that crude oil stocks were up 5.2 million barrels, gasoline stocks were down 4.6 million barrels and distillates were down 2.7. Cushing crude oil stocks were down 2.8 million barrels. UBS in a research note to clients said they have […]

The API and DOE inventory reports are both delayed one day due to the Columbus Day Holiday on Monday. The EIA in a bulletin put out last week on propane and said that conditions were ripe for a supply squeeze this winter given low inventories. Flattish supply and resilient demand […]

The energy markets rallied and closed higher on Friday driven mainly by the news that a deal was reached in Congress to raise the debt ceiling through early December. Also, supporting prices on Friday was the Department of Energy saying they had no plans to release barrels from the SPR […]

Equities markets rebounded yesterday when the news hit that a deal was reached in Congress to raise the debt ceiling through December. This was also supportive of energy prices which rallied as well.  The news that the US would release barrels from the SPR has been a whirlwind of back […]

Propane inventories had a draw of 633,000 barrels putting total stocks at 72.288 million barrels. Total inventories are 29% less than last year. Inventories have not been this low at this time of year at any point in the last 8 years. There could still be some builds to inventories […]

The energy markets continue to run higher in yesterday’s trading and WTI crude oil traded to its highest level in 7 years and natural gas prices reached a 13 year high. There is speculation that natural gas shortages in Europe could spill over into the US with winter weather heating […]

Crude oil and refined fuels product prices reached a 3-year high for WTI crude oil and ULSD in yesterday’s trading for nearby futures months. The day’s big news was OPEC+ deciding to stick to adding just 400,000 BPD starting in November. In July, OPEC+ agreed to add 400,000 BPD each […]

Energy prices were overall higher on Friday as they continued to add more upside from Thursday as traders and investors speculated on the results of the OPEC+ meeting today. Also adding support were good economic reports on Friday for US manufacturing and US consumer sentiment. China news about them wanting […]

The big news from yesterday was that China’s central government officials ordered the country’s top state-owned energy firms to secure supplies for winter needs at all costs. This news spiked the market to up roughly five cents per gallon quickly after this news hit the wires. Prices did ease back […]

The DOE report on inventory had crude stocks up 4.58 million barrels putting total stocks at 418.542 and last year there were 492.426 million barrels a difference of 73.884 million barrels. US production was up 500,000 BPD to a total of 11.100 million BPD.    Cushing crude stocks were up 131,000 […]

The Baker Hughes Rig Count number released on Friday had crude oil rigs up 10 to a total of 411 total oil rigs. Last year at this time there were 179 rigs. There has been a lot of talk about shale oil companies being very disciplined and having financial restraint […]

The energy markets were higher in yesterday’s trading mainly being pushed higher by the overall bullish DOE inventory report. Crude stocks were reported down 6.4 million barrels which was much more than the roughly 3 million barrels estimate. Crude stock fell to the lowest levels since September 2019. Crude stocks […]

The API said that crude oil stocks were down 5.4 million barrels and the supplies of crude oil in Cushing, Ok were down 1.3 million barres. Gasoline supplies were down 2.8 million barrels and distillates were down 2.9 million barrels. This report is supportive of prices currently until the market […]

Tropical Storm Nicholas formed in the Atlantic and is expected to hit Texas on Monday night. This storm should impact offshore oil production in the Gulf of Mexico as some companies have evacuated personnel. The coast of Louisiana is now expected to get 10 to 15 inches of rain which […]

The China National Food and Strategic Reserve Administration said it intends to auction off crude oil from its strategic oil reserve at several different times in the near future. This is the first time every China has taken this action. The SPR in China is estimated to be 220 million […]