Oil & Gas Prices - Oct 20
Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2021 9:03 am
Opening Prices:
> WTI is down 94c to $82.02/Bbl, and Brent is down 86c to $84.23/Bbl.
> Natural gas is down 11.6c to $4.972/MMBtu.
AEGIS Notes
Oil
Oil prices slid about 1% on Wednesday morning as the API inventory report signaled an increase in crude stockpiles, and China takes measures to stabilize its power supplies
> China is looking at ways to intervene in the coal market to ensure reasonable prices, while the nation’s energy watchdog hosted a Tuesday meeting with refiners after oil prices soared (Bloomberg)
> The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a 3.29 MMBbl build in U.S. crude inventories. Government data is due later this morning. < As I have been telling you in my weekly podcasts, October is when refiners must build inventory to have enough feedstock to make heating oil.
West Texas Intermediate has continued to firm up in a bullish backwardation structure as global demand rises
> The spread between the December 2021 and December 2022 contracts for WTI neared $10/Bbl, the widest since 2013
> The steeper the backwardation, the more disparity hedgers realize between prompt contracts versus longer-dated ones
Natural Gas
The prompt-month Henry Hub contract is trading 11.6c lower this morning, near $4.972
> The contract is down 19.4%, or $1.224 from its peak of $6.312/MMBtu reached on October 5
> Feedgas flows are down slightly today at around 10.06 Bcf/d, with Freeport LNG accounting for 0.6 Bcf/d of the decline
U.S. LNG exporters are picking up the loading pace as Europe and Asia compete for cargoes (Bloomberg)
> October’s cargo-per-day pace is currently 4.9% lower than September. However, seven tankers are currently loading, with each at the Sabine Pass and Freeport LNG sites
> Europe cargo imports from the United States are at their highest level since May, when Asia started absorbing more cargoes to replenish storage
Europe has landed 31% of U.S. cargoes this month
> WTI is down 94c to $82.02/Bbl, and Brent is down 86c to $84.23/Bbl.
> Natural gas is down 11.6c to $4.972/MMBtu.
AEGIS Notes
Oil
Oil prices slid about 1% on Wednesday morning as the API inventory report signaled an increase in crude stockpiles, and China takes measures to stabilize its power supplies
> China is looking at ways to intervene in the coal market to ensure reasonable prices, while the nation’s energy watchdog hosted a Tuesday meeting with refiners after oil prices soared (Bloomberg)
> The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a 3.29 MMBbl build in U.S. crude inventories. Government data is due later this morning. < As I have been telling you in my weekly podcasts, October is when refiners must build inventory to have enough feedstock to make heating oil.
West Texas Intermediate has continued to firm up in a bullish backwardation structure as global demand rises
> The spread between the December 2021 and December 2022 contracts for WTI neared $10/Bbl, the widest since 2013
> The steeper the backwardation, the more disparity hedgers realize between prompt contracts versus longer-dated ones
Natural Gas
The prompt-month Henry Hub contract is trading 11.6c lower this morning, near $4.972
> The contract is down 19.4%, or $1.224 from its peak of $6.312/MMBtu reached on October 5
> Feedgas flows are down slightly today at around 10.06 Bcf/d, with Freeport LNG accounting for 0.6 Bcf/d of the decline
U.S. LNG exporters are picking up the loading pace as Europe and Asia compete for cargoes (Bloomberg)
> October’s cargo-per-day pace is currently 4.9% lower than September. However, seven tankers are currently loading, with each at the Sabine Pass and Freeport LNG sites
> Europe cargo imports from the United States are at their highest level since May, when Asia started absorbing more cargoes to replenish storage
Europe has landed 31% of U.S. cargoes this month