Market Commentary

The inventory report from the API said that crude oil stocks fell by 831,000 barrels to about 494.4 million barrels. This is less than the Reuters poll expectation of down 1.6 million barrels. The crude oil barrels at Cushing, Ok were up 1.6 million barrels.  Gasoline stocks were up 1.6 […]

The sentiment surrounding the economic recovery and with it the markets still seems negative. The two stories that have been repeated in the news are the fear of increasing cases of the coronavirus and no passage of the second round of stimulus. Bloomberg reports that today will be a key […]

The Baker Hughes Rig Count was up 4 crude oil rigs bringing the total crude rigs to 183. Last year at this time there were 713 crude rigs in operation. The rig count has seen very minor increase the last two weeks but is still at very low levels. The […]

ConocoPhillips sees global oil demand returning to 100 million bpd and increasing from there. The company still expects “quite a bit of uncertainty next year” in oil demand due to the coronavirus. ConocoPhillips‘ Senior Vice President, Dominic Macklon, said capital spending in 2021 will be below its original planned 2020 […]

European gas oil (diesel) refining margins have slipped well below $3 per barrel (based on futures prices for deliveries before the end of the year), probably not enough to cover their full costs (energy, catalysts, services, labor, and capital), indicating refineries are likely to reduce crude processing and some are […]

The market was softer on the trading day yesterday mainly pressured by a higher US Dollar, and demand destruction fears from rising cases of the coronavirus. The API inventory report said that crude stocks were up 691,000 barrels, and crude stocks at Cushing, Ok, the NYMEX WTI crude oil future […]

The news that the blockade is lifted, and more Libyan oil is coming to market is still garnering headlines today and if they can pull it off at some point it could be an issue which OPEC will need to address. Libya is an OPEC member but currently is not […]

Crude oil and refined fuels products prices closed mixed on Friday, both WTI and Brent crude oil rose by 10% to 11% for the week and the largest weekly rise in the past 3 months. Baker Hughes reported that crude oi rigs fell by 1 to a total of 179 […]

Two stories are impacting crude currently. The OPEC+ group meet yesterday, and the news was that there would be a hard crack down on those not in compliance. They also said they may have another meeting in October to address the current market, which was a surprise. But then Saudi […]

The inventory report from the government said that crude oil stocks were down 1.39 million barrels putting total stocks at 496.045 which is 78.919 million more barrels than last year at this time.  Cushing, Ok crude oil stocks were down 74,000 barrels putting total stocks at 54.277 million barrels which […]

Bloomberg reports that Vitol Group said inventories have been falling sharply and will continue to decline this year. Trafigura Group said the market will go back into a surplus. Both companies forecast demand to slow down and for the next few months to see increased volatility and then demand will […]

Crude prices are under some selling pressure here in early morning trading as reports are positive that crude oil production out of Libya is trying to reestablish itself. Commander Khalifa Haftar said is committed to ending months-long blockade of oil facilities. He wants to get all port open. This has […]