Opening Prices:
> WTI is down 16c to $42.73/Bbl, and Brent is down 3c to $45.34/Bbl
> Natural gas is up 9.7c to $2.436/MMBtu
Heat wave in the West is causing rolling black outs in California. All of their gas fired power plants are running at peak. This should help West Texas gas prices.
Read the Cimarex profile carefully.
Oil & Gas Prices - August 18
Oil & Gas Prices - August 18
Dan Steffens
Energy Prospectus Group
Energy Prospectus Group
Re: Oil & Gas Prices - August 18
Closing Prices:
> WTI prompt month (SEP 20) was unchanged $0.00 on the day, to settle at $42.89/Bbl.
> NG prompt month (SEP 20) was up $0.078 on the day, to settle at $2.417/MMBtu.
WTI was down over 1% mid-day but came back strong on a report that floating storage of crude oil has fallen a lot more than people think.
Also, after the markets closed the American Petroleum Institute reported that U.S. oil inventories fell 4.26 million barrels, after a draw of 4.4 million the previous week. If this is confirmed by EIA tomorrow, it will be the 4th week in a row of a large draw. In tomorrow's EIA report, focus on refinery utilization. That is the key indicator of rising demand for refined products. Last week EIA reported the first rate over 80% since the pandemic started. Normal for this time of year is over 90%.
The NYMEX strip prices for natural gas keep pushing higher. The 2021 strip could soon move over $3.00 much earlier than I was expecting. Heat wave in the West and rolling blackouts in California are drawing more attention to how fast the U.S. natural gas production capacity is falling; down 9% YOY per EIA. Export demand is expected to rise by 4 to 5 Bcfpd from August to October and production keeps falling because we aren't completing enough wells.
The record low active rig count is now impacting our production capacity BIGTIME.
> WTI prompt month (SEP 20) was unchanged $0.00 on the day, to settle at $42.89/Bbl.
> NG prompt month (SEP 20) was up $0.078 on the day, to settle at $2.417/MMBtu.
WTI was down over 1% mid-day but came back strong on a report that floating storage of crude oil has fallen a lot more than people think.
Also, after the markets closed the American Petroleum Institute reported that U.S. oil inventories fell 4.26 million barrels, after a draw of 4.4 million the previous week. If this is confirmed by EIA tomorrow, it will be the 4th week in a row of a large draw. In tomorrow's EIA report, focus on refinery utilization. That is the key indicator of rising demand for refined products. Last week EIA reported the first rate over 80% since the pandemic started. Normal for this time of year is over 90%.
The NYMEX strip prices for natural gas keep pushing higher. The 2021 strip could soon move over $3.00 much earlier than I was expecting. Heat wave in the West and rolling blackouts in California are drawing more attention to how fast the U.S. natural gas production capacity is falling; down 9% YOY per EIA. Export demand is expected to rise by 4 to 5 Bcfpd from August to October and production keeps falling because we aren't completing enough wells.
The record low active rig count is now impacting our production capacity BIGTIME.
Dan Steffens
Energy Prospectus Group
Energy Prospectus Group