Micro WTI futures began trading on NYMEX yesterday. These contracts are in 100 barrel increments. The symbol is MCL. Please let us know if you have any questions or interest in trading the Micro WTI.
Outlook: The ongoing pattern of declining inventories can continue to provide support, a factor that is helping to push WTI up 82 cents this morning. Products are gaining with ULSD and RBOB up near 3 cents.
Crude
- Today’s monthly IEA report skewed bullish as they see a failure of an OPEC+ agreement keeping August production steady, which will allow the market to “tighten significantly.”
- The US Consumer Price Index rose 0.9% in June, well above estimates for a 0.5% increase. CPI rose 5.4% y/y, above a 4.9% estimate. CPI rose 0.6% in May. The Producer Price Index is out tomorrow morning.
- Yesterday’s Drilling Productivity Report from the EIA suggests shale producers will increase production by 0.5% next month. This is a small amount considering WTI above $70.
- Oil and gas drillers have added back only 18,600 of the 102,000 jobs lost due to the pandemic.
- CVR’s Coffeyville, KS refinery shut a 36,900 bpd FCC two days ago, Wood Mackenzie (Genscape) showed.
- Weekly API estimates are out this afternoon at 3:30 pm CDT and tomorrow morning brings the weekly EIA stats at 9:30 am CDT.
- As of 11:03 am CDT: September Brent is up $1.05 to 76.21, the U.S. dollar index is 0.260 higher at 92.521 while the nearby e-mini S&P 500 futures contract is up 6.25 points at 4,382.75.
Diesel
- Prompt jet fuel for pipelines serving major East Coast airports is 16 cents below nearby ULSD, up from 25 cents below in early June as demand for jet fuel increases.
- The TSA passenger count has doubled since late April to more than 2 million people per day.
Gasoline
- US gasoline demand fell 2% to 9.362 million bpd in the week ended July 9, Descartes Labs predicts. Although down w/w, this comes after a strong week prior to the Independence Day holiday weekend. They use mobile device movements to determine gasoline demand.
- BP’s CEO says there is a “good chance” of high oil prices in the coming years.
Propane
- Propane is mixed. Focus will be put squarely on tomorrow’s weekly inventory report. Propane builds have been very light and overall supplies continue to move lower against the five year average.
Continuous Daily ULSD: The market fought off early weakness last week and is back on its bullish track.
