Energy Market Update May 2, 2018
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Energy Market Update May 2, 2018 NYMEX Prices Close May Crude Oil Crude Oil May Gasoline May Heating Oil May Natural Gas
$67.93 60 $2.0798 $2.1215 $2.754
Wk. Change -0.12 -0.0099 -0.0145 -0.032
Market Comments: Oil prices struggled for direction this week, pressured lower by a weekly rise in U.S. crude inventories that was more than three times higher than expected. The EIA said crude supplies rose 6.2 million barrels for the week ended April 27 (see chart below). RBOB gasoline was the only product that closed lower on Wednesday on some disappointing demand data on gasoline. On the bullish side, all eyes remain on whether U.S. President Donald Trump will reinstate sanctions against Iran by scrapping the 2015 international nuclear deal. Sanctions against Iran will undoubtedly reduce oil production, the looming question is by how much. The decision is due by May 12th. Crude Change DOE EST. Propane
API’s
+2.2
3Yr Avg. 429.7 475 +2.451/-3.000 Total
Gasoline
5 Yr. Avg. 469
Change
+0.8
3Yr Avg. 236.8 225 +1.000/-3.875 Total
Distillate Fuel
5 Yr. Avg. 227
Change
-2.6
3Yr Avg. 122.7 133 +1.000/-3.875 Total
Total -0.2 35.7
Midwest -0.1 8.9
Gulf N/C -0.6 22.5
Crude +1.099 Cushing -0.930
Gasoline -2.724
Distillates -1.911
U.S. propane inventories for 2018 did not sink to the lows of 2014, but of the years depicted here propane builds are certainly late to arrive this year. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a 660,000-barrel build in U.S. propane inventory for the week ending April 27. The build was more than the 13,000 barrels analyst’s projected. It was well short of the five-year average of a 1.684 million-barrel build in week 17 of the year.
5 Yr. Avg. 134
After a record cold April, residential heating demand in 2017-18 had a strong finish as compared to the last five years. The Chicago area saw a record 16 days in which temperatures were 32 degrees or lower in April, breaking a record. The previous record was set in 1874 and 1873 for 15 days freezing or below-freezing temperatures. March also was slightly colder than normal with a monthly temperature of 36.9 degrees, which is 1 degree below the typical monthly average for the month. Those in the northern Plains, Ohio Valley, Midwest and Great Lakes regions that were hoping for a pattern change in May will likely be disappointed as colder-than-average conditions are once again expected here.
Crude oil prices are at the highest level in more than three years, and prices are expected to climb higher, pushing gasoline prices up along the way. The U.S. national average for regular gasoline is now about $2.81 per gallon. That’s up from about $2.39 per gallon a year ago, according to Oil Price Information Service. Across the U.S. around 13 percent of gas stations are charging $3 per gallon or more, AAA said last week. The United States exported nearly 1.4 billion gallons of ethanol in 2017, surpassing the previous record of 1.2 billion gallons set in 2011. The United States has seen continued growth in fuel ethanol exports over the past eight years as increases in both corn production and ethanol production capacity have outpaced domestic fuel ethanol consumption. U.S. fuel ethanol was exported to 35 countries in 2017, but more than half of all exported fuel ethanol went to Brazil and Canada. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that the United States produced 14.6 billion bushels of corn in the 2017–2018 harvest year, 4% less than the record 2016–2017 harvest, but still the second-highest level in history.
Energy Market Update May 2, 2018 NYMEX Prices Close May Crude Oil Crude Oil May Gasoline May Heating Oil May Natural Gas
$67.93 60 $2.0798 $2.1215 $2.754
Wk. Change -0.12 -0.0099 -0.0145 -0.032
Market Comments: Oil prices struggled for direction this week, pressured lower by a weekly rise in U.S. crude inventories that was more than three times higher than expected. The EIA said crude supplies rose 6.2 million barrels for the week ended April 27 (see chart below). RBOB gasoline was the only product that closed lower on Wednesday on some disappointing demand data on gasoline. On the bullish side, all eyes remain on whether U.S. President Donald Trump will reinstate sanctions against Iran by scrapping the 2015 international nuclear deal. Sanctions against Iran will undoubtedly reduce oil production, the looming question is by how much. The decision is due by May 12th. Crude Change DOE EST. Propane
API’s
+2.2
3Yr Avg. 429.7 475 +2.451/-3.000 Total
Gasoline
5 Yr. Avg. 469
Change
+0.8
3Yr Avg. 236.8 225 +1.000/-3.875 Total
Distillate Fuel
5 Yr. Avg. 227
Change
-2.6
3Yr Avg. 122.7 133 +1.000/-3.875 Total
Total -0.2 35.7
Midwest -0.1 8.9
Gulf N/C -0.6 22.5
Crude +1.099 Cushing -0.930
Gasoline -2.724
Distillates -1.911
U.S. propane inventories for 2018 did not sink to the lows of 2014, but of the years depicted here propane builds are certainly late to arrive this year. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a 660,000-barrel build in U.S. propane inventory for the week ending April 27. The build was more than the 13,000 barrels analyst’s projected. It was well short of the five-year average of a 1.684 million-barrel build in week 17 of the year.
5 Yr. Avg. 134
After a record cold April, residential heating demand in 2017-18 had a strong finish as compared to the last five years. The Chicago area saw a record 16 days in which temperatures were 32 degrees or lower in April, breaking a record. The previous record was set in 1874 and 1873 for 15 days freezing or below-freezing temperatures. March also was slightly colder than normal with a monthly temperature of 36.9 degrees, which is 1 degree below the typical monthly average for the month. Those in the northern Plains, Ohio Valley, Midwest and Great Lakes regions that were hoping for a pattern change in May will likely be disappointed as colder-than-average conditions are once again expected here.
Crude oil prices are at the highest level in more than three years, and prices are expected to climb higher, pushing gasoline prices up along the way. The U.S. national average for regular gasoline is now about $2.81 per gallon. That’s up from about $2.39 per gallon a year ago, according to Oil Price Information Service. Across the U.S. around 13 percent of gas stations are charging $3 per gallon or more, AAA said last week. The United States exported nearly 1.4 billion gallons of ethanol in 2017, surpassing the previous record of 1.2 billion gallons set in 2011. The United States has seen continued growth in fuel ethanol exports over the past eight years as increases in both corn production and ethanol production capacity have outpaced domestic fuel ethanol consumption. U.S. fuel ethanol was exported to 35 countries in 2017, but more than half of all exported fuel ethanol went to Brazil and Canada. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that the United States produced 14.6 billion bushels of corn in the 2017–2018 harvest year, 4% less than the record 2016–2017 harvest, but still the second-highest level in history.
