Court Orders Dakota Access Oil Pipeline to Shutdown
July 7, 2020
A US District Court ordered Energy transfer LP to shut and empty the Dakota Access Transfer’s 570,000 bpd Dakota Access oil pipeline within 30 days. This pipeline transports oil out of North Dakota’s Bakken shale basin to refineries in Eastern Illinois. This will force more crude to rail out of that area but this movement to Cushing does have some limitations. Roughly one third of all Bakken production travels via this pipeline. ETP will file a motion against this ruling.
Oil markets were mixed yesterday as the rising cases of COVID-19 raise demand concerns and create more uncertainty. The market doesn’t have much direction currently as the demand moving forward is uncertain so prices cannot rally too much and with OPEC+ cuts and other production restriction it is hard to sell if off. These factors are likely to keep the market rangebound for a while until a clearer picture emerges. I have seen it said that only a major hurricane or major Middle East event would be needed to get this market out of its range and neither of those are welcome. Iran had a fire at its underground Natanz nuclear facility, and it is suggested that it was possibly the result of a cyber sabotage. Iran’s’ state news agency IRNA said that this attack could have been carried out by enemies like Israel and the United States. Let’s hope this isn’t the start of the something to get the market stirred up.
The API inventory report is expected to show another draw in crude stocks later today. As of now I have not seen any estimates for tomorrow DOE inventory update.
Yesterday the US ISM non-manufacturing index for June rose dramatically up to a reading of 57.1, which was well above the 50.1 reading expected. Last week the US ISM manufacturing index rose more than expected up to a reading of 52.6 for June. A reading over 50 indicates expansion. This was good news but with all the coronavirus news out this will likely be overshadowed.