Oil & Gas Prices - Sept 29

[dan_s]

Opening Prices:
> WTI is down 45c to $74.84/Bbl, and Brent is down 62c to $78.47/Bbl.
> Natural gas is down 16.4c to $5.716/MMBtu.

AEGIS Notes
Oil

Oil prices retreated after a U.S. Industry report pointed to a build in crude stockpiles, helping keep Brent crude below $80/Bbl
The API reported a 4.13 MMBbl weekly gain in U.S. crude stocks yesterday afternoon
The increase would be the first in eight weeks if confirmed by government data later today

Pricy natural gas is poised to boost oil purchases by Asian power generators by more than 40%, according to Rystad Energy (Bloomberg)
Electricity producers might switch enough of their generators to crude to consume 400 MBbl/d, the research firm said in a report on Tuesday

WTI options volumes were the highest since mid-August on Tuesday (Bloomberg)
The most actively traded Brent contract was a $100 call, while $150 calls also traded on both benchmarks
Bullish speculation on crude oil comes as both WTI and Brent trade near multi-year highs

Natural Gas

Gas is down 16.4c this morning, trading near $5.716
Yesterday, the Oct ’21 futures contract expired at $5.841, after a volatile trading session where it reached an intra-day high of $6.28
There have not been any significant changes in the U.S. supply/demand backdrop. Gulf of Mexico (GoM) production is up by 155 MMcf/d on the week, but still well below pre-Hurricane Ida levels

Total CEO says Europe’s gas crisis may last all winter (Bloomberg)
Total CEO Pouyanne expects European suppliers to avoid a shortage by raising prices to lure more gas into the continent
The gas crunch has already forced authorities to implement emergency measures to protect consumers as prices reach record levels. A number of U.K. power companies have failed, and large chemical producers like BASF SE have been forced to cut output due to rising feedstock costs
Rabobank warned that a cold winter may leave global storage practically empty, saying, “This would be a catastrophic scenario which the market is trying to solve for now by increasing prices so much that demand is forced to ration"

[dan_s]

Closing Prices:
> WTI prompt month (NOV 21) was down $0.46 on the day, to settle at $74.83/Bbl.
> NG prompt month (NOV 21) was down $0.403 on the day, to settle at $5.477/MMBtu.