Oil and Gas Prices - May 9

[dan_s]

Trading Economics:
Oil
WTI crude oil futures rose toward $61 per barrel on Friday, set for a weekly gain, driven by signs of easing trade tensions between major economies. Investors are hopeful that upcoming US-China talks in Switzerland could lead to progress in resolving the trade dispute, which has weighed on global oil demand. President Trump hinted at reducing tariffs on China, despite suggesting an 80% levy “seems right,” indicating internal debate within his administration. At the same time, a newly announced US-UK trade deal, described as a "breakthrough," has lifted broader market sentiment. Chinese trade data also provided some optimism, with exports rising more than expected in April and oil imports up 7.5% from a year earlier, as refiners took advantage of low prices during plant maintenance.

Natural Gas
US natural gas futures climbed toward $3.80/MMBtu, reaching a four-week high, on reduced supply and record LNG exports. Output is projected to drop by around 5.5 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd), hitting a 10-week low of 102.6 bcfd, according to LSEG data. Also, flows to the Freeport LNG plant in Texas are rebounding sharply after an outage on Tuesday. Deliveries to the facility surged from 0.3 bcfd Tuesday to a projected 1.8 bcfd Wednesday. In April, LNG exports averaged a record 16.0 bcfd, reaffirming the US as the world’s top exporter. Meanwhile, the latest EIA data showed that gas in underground storage rose by 104 billion cubic feet (Bcf) last week, far above the 5-year average of 79 Bcf, due to mild weather and soft demand. This pushed the surplus to 30 Bcf versus the average, though inventories remain 412 Bcf below last year. < Comparison to last year's inventories is more important than comparison to the last five year average since demand for U.S. natural gas is MUCH HIGHER today than it was five years ago AND demand will be 20 Bcf per day higher by 2030.

The JAN26 NYMEX futures contract is trading at $5.21/MMBtu this morning.

[dan_s]

Eric Nuttall and Diamondback Energy CEO says U.S. oil production has peaked and will go on decline soon.

Watch this: https://x.com/ericnuttall/status/1920822392596636074