Oil & Gas Prices - Jan 11

[dan_s]

Opening Prices:
> WTI is up 98c to $79.21/Bbl, and Brent is up 88c to $81.75/Bbl.
> Natural gas is down 0.2c to $4.077/MMBtu.

Oil:
Crude oil futures rose 1.2% amid a broader equities rally and a weaker dollar
Oil has continued to march higher so far in the new year with the absence of major news or data releases
Most of the 2022 gains are likely attributed to a handful of global supply outages

In the background, Covid-19 cases are surging to new records, but the impact on oil demand is seen as minimal
In the world’s largest crude importer, Chinese authorities have locked down a city of 5 million people following the detection of Omicron in Henan province (Bloomberg)
China has continued to approach the pandemic with a zero-tolerance policy to try and eliminate viral spreading

The output gap between OPEC+ crude and its quotas has widened (S&P Platts)
Fourteen out the 18 members of OPEC+ with quotas fell short of their targets in December
Total OPEC+ compliance climbed to 116.5%, the highest since the group started its cuts in the spring of 2020, the Platts survey found
The combined shortfall was some 620 MBbl/d below their caps

Ngas

Natural gas is down 0.2c this morning, near $4.077
Yesterday, the February ’22 contract gained 16.3c in an impressive showing as weather forecasts shaped up
Last night’s weather model runs show slightly warmer weather in the 11-15 day range, and the heating degree day forecast for January was knocked 8.6 HDDs lower to 959 HDDs

LNG feedgas demand is still depressed near 12.36 Bcf/d, but Sabine Pass Train 6 could be nearing full commissioning, with Cheniere targeting an “early 2022” in-service date
Operators in the U.S. Rocky Mountain region are waiting for higher prices to increase production, according to a Kansas City Fed survey
Operators said natural gas prices need to average around $4/MMBtu before any significant ramp-up in production
Survey respondents said the average price required was $4.27/MMBtu to boost drilling significantly, the highest price point the survey has ever recorded
According to Platts Analytics, total Rockies production has declined from 9.1 Bcf/d to 8.2 Bcf/d and is expected to average 7.6 Bcf/d in 2022

[dan_s]

The oil traders must not know that I am on vacation this week!

[Fraser921]

Shhhh!

Rip snortin rally

And I thought Team Biden cured high prices