Oil & Gas Prices - April 23

[dan_s]

Trading Economics:

Crude Oil
>WTI crude futures rebounded toward $83.50 per barrel on Tuesday, after falling to as low as $80.85 earlier in the session driven by optimism that disappointing PMI data might prompt interest rate cuts to pick up pace and boost oil demand. Activity increased at a slower pace across both the manufacturing and service sectors, with rates of growth easing to three- and five-month lows, respectively.
> On the other hand, concerns over a potential conflict between Iran and Israel have eased, with both countries indicating a desire to avoid a larger war after recent skirmishes.
> Meanwhile, an industry report is likely to show a 1.8 million barrel increase in U.S. crude oil stocks for the third straight week, following a 4.090 million barrel surge in the previous period. < HFI Research is forecast a draw: "For the week ending April 19, we have a crude draw of 4.33 million bbls. This includes the SPR build of 800k bbls. For those of you who follow us closely may be aware, EIA still owes us ~10 million bbls in overstated crude storage. Only ~2 million bbls were returned last week, but over time, all of those barrels should return. In essence, EIA could surprise versus our crude draw estimate (i.e. larger than expected draw)"

U.S. Natural Gas
> The front month NYMEX contract (MAY24) closed today at $1.83/MMBtu and JUN closed at $2.12/MMBtu
> US gas production has decreased by approximately 10% in 2024, as energy companies like EQT and Chesapeake Energy delayed well completions and reduced drilling activities. Additionally, natural gas entering US LNG export facilities, including Freeport, has been increasing after hitting a 15-month low of 9.2 bcf/d last week.