Market Commentary

The news on Iran this morning appears to be at two extremes. President Trump is going to send Senator Rand Paul to Iran to talk peace. For the energy markets this is a big deal because if they can agree to something and sanctions get lifted more Iranian barrels of […]

The average estimates for today’s DOE inventory update from the survey conducted by Bloomberg is looking for crude oil stocks to be down 3.785 million barrels. Gasoline stocks are estimated to be down 2.421 million barrels and distillates are called up 780,000 barrels. The estimates from Reuters are calling for […]

Tropical Storm Barry shut down 73% (1.38 million bpd) of crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico but weakened to a tropical storm as it hit Louisiana on Saturday, the westward shift of the storm spared low level New Orleans from massive flooding feared earlier last week. Given less […]

A little bullish support for prices came on Friday from the Baker Hughes rig count which reported that 4 crude oil rigs came offline in the US last week bringing the total to 784 rigs. This is the lowest number of rigs since 2/2/2018. British foreign minister Jeremy Hunt told […]

In a Bloomberg update they gave a recap of some numbers that give rise to the indication that the trade war is having its impact on economies around the globe. Export-reliant Singapore’s gross domestic product unexpectedly shrank an annualized 3.4% in the second quarter, the biggest decline since 2012. China’s […]

The DOE inventory showed a big decline to crude stocks and that set the market off on a big up day. Crude stocks were done 9.50 million barrels way more than any of the estimates. Crude oil stocks at Cushing, Ok were done 310,000 barrels. Gasoline stocks were down 1.46 […]

The API reported after the close of the markets that crude stocks declined by a big 8.1 million barrels. Reuters is calling for a 3.1 million barrel decline for today’s DOE inventory report. Crude stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma the NYMEX WTI crude oil futures contract delivery point were down 754,000 […]

There are a lot of headlines and comments about what’s happening in the Middle East. New sanctions on Iran, a visit to Saudi Arabia by Vice President Pence, Iran’s response to the US about sanctions and all other matters. The Middle East is always a wild card for the energy […]

Friday’s big move in the energy markets was driven by the explosion and fire at Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery early in the morning. The refinery processes 335,000 barrels of crude oil every day at two plants in the complex, Girard Point and Point Breeze. This fire and explosion caused an […]

Energy Solutions refinery in Philadelphia had an explosion early this morning and fire. This has juiced the energy market up as traders cover positions as a reaction the news. It is Friday and uncertainty about the damage and impact to this refinery could mean a scramble to get gallons so […]

The energy market has a very strong selloff in early trading yesterday. The reason is possibly two fold but the main driver that is getting attention is a tweet. President Trump again tweeted at OPEC that prices were getting too high. The President’s Tweet: “Very Important that OPEC increase the […]

China’s exports dropped 20.7% in February as seasonal factory shutdowns and continued uncertainty from the trade war combined to drag on shipments, adding to concerns over a weakening global economy. German factor orders dropped 2.6% in January, where a gain had been expected, with the fall caused by weak demand […]