Market Commentary

Crude oil and refined fuel prices remain under some selling pressure here this morning. The trade war between China and the US is one of the main items putting pressure on prices because this is seen as impacting demand growth negatively. One of the other items is OPEC+ saying they […]

There appeared to be very little conviction in the market on Friday. The energy markets all traded in very tight ranges. Baker Hughes reported the oil rigs increased by 1 to a total of 481 rigs. Last year at this time there were 511 oil rigs. US natural gas drilling […]

China’s government could be suspending some of its 125% tariffs on some US imports, including ethane and possibly propane. There could be additional exceptions as well and this news is being seen as encouraging this morning and has put a bit of softness in prices. Energy prices have bounced off […]

The DOE inventory report had crude oil stocks down 240,000 barrels, gasoline stocks down 4.48 million, and distillates down 2.35 million. Total crude oil stocks were at 443.104 million and last year they were 453.625. Inventories are sitting right now in the middle of the three range. Total gasoline inventories […]

The API inventory estimates called crude oil inventories down 4.6 million barrels, gasoline inventories down 1.6 million barrels, and distillate inventories down 2.2 million barrels. The US issued fresh sanctions targeting an Iranian LNG and crude oil shipping baron and his corporate network. This is despite progress in talks with […]

Over the course of the last three weeks WTI crude oil has traded in a $14 dollar range. The market now sits right in the middle of that range. This market could go in either direction from here. Expect the volatility to remain high as there are many uncertainties surrounding […]

Crude oil is down over a $1.50 per barrel this morning on the news that talks between the US and Iran over the weekend where much more positive than just about everyone expected. They began to work on the framework for a potential nuclear deal. Of course, we all know […]

The propane inventory report had supplies down 1.284 million barrels, putting total US supplies at 44.367 million and last year at this time there were 55.694. Midwest inventories were up 189,000 barrels putting total Midwest inventories at 9.764 and last year there were 12.540. Gulf Coast inventories were down 1.201 […]

As we move closer to the Easter Holiday and a short work week for many, trading has been seeing less volume. With a lot of uncertainty surrounding the markets, sometimes the best strategy is to do nothing, and it appears many traders have taken off for a long holiday weekend. Energy markets […]

Exploration and production companies have already reacted to the lower crude prices as we saw yesterday with fracking crews down 10, dropping from 205 to 195. Several firms have said they will focus on drilled but uncompleted wells during this lower-price environment to conserve cash. Goldman Sachs is predicting recessionary […]

Baker Hughes had oil rigs down 9 to a total of 480 and last year at this time there were 506 oil rigs in operation. This is understandable with a roughly 10 dollar per barrel decline in prices. Completion crews also took a big hit this week down 10 and […]

The energy markets pulled back off the highs from yesterday’s rally on the 90-day pause of tariffs. These last few days are a reminder of how volatile these markets can be and how quickly many are willing to call a bottom in the market. It also gets complicated by the […]