Energy Prospectus

Opening Prices:
WTI is up $1.18 to $51.12/Bbl, and Brent is up $1.52 to $55.53/Bbl.
Natural gas is up 3.7c to $1.825/MMBtu.

Closing Prices;
WTI prompt month (MAR 20) was up $1.23 on the day, to settle at $51.17/Bbl.
NG prompt month (MAR 20) was up $0.056 on the day, to settle at $1.844/MMBtu.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures are trading higher on Wednesday, shortly after the regular session opening and the release of the latest government inventories report. The price action is being fueled by optimism that the worst of the demand crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak may have peaked. < As I highlighted in my opening remarks at yesterday's luncheon, all previous health "FEARS" like SARS, MERS, Ebola, Aids, Swine Flu, Bird Flu, etc. have not had a significant or long-lasting impact on oil demand.

Late Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute (API) said U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 6 million barrels during the week-ending February 7 to 438.9 million barrels. This was higher than the 3 million barrel forecast. < It is very important to realize that crude oil inventories MUST RISE in Q1 so that refiners have the feed stock they need to produce more summer blend gasoline in Q2.

Investing.com - U.S. stocks are set to open higher Wednesday, continuing the recent positive trend as investors take heart from signs the coronavirus outbreak might be peaking.

At 7:30 AM ET (1230 GMT), futures for theS&P 500 traded 12 points, or 0.4%, higher, futures for the Nasdaq were up 49 points, or 0.5%, while the Dow Jones futures contract rose 125 points, or 0.4%.

The death toll from China’s coronavirus, officially called Covid-19, now exceeds 1100, but there have been signs the outbreak may be peaking at the epicenter of the crisis.

Authorities in Hubei, the province where the outbreak likely originated, said there were an additional 1,638 confirmed cases of the virus Wednesday. That is almost one-third less than the previous day's new cases. However, reports from outside China suggest that this may be due more to changes in China’s way of counting. China's National Health Commission said last week that it would no longer count new cases as confirmed until patients started showing symptoms of the disease. China's own studies suggest that people can remain asymptomatic for up to 24 days after catching the virus.