Nymex Globex will close on Thursday December 23 at 4:00pm CST and will be closed Friday December 24. Trading will resume Sunday evening at 5:00pm CST. CHS Hedging will not be staffed on Friday December 24.
Outlook: Energies are seeing subtle gains to start the day receiving slight macro support from equities. RBOB is seeing extended gains due to the refinery fire in Texas which comes when inventories are already at their lowest level since 2015. Trade is light today and a lack of additional news should keep market volatility down.
Crude
- Exxon Mobil Corp. reported a fire at its Baytown oil-processing facility in Texas which has a capacity of around 561,000 barrels. The refinery is the fourth-largest in the U.S.
- South Korea will start releasing crude and oil products from its strategic reserves next month.
- Vortexa reports Europe is importing more U.S. crude as availability picks up because of a slowdown in Chinese buying.
- Iran nuclear deal talks are set to resume on December 27th.
- U.S weekly jobless claims were unchanged at 205,000, near estimates.
- The USDA authorized usage for Pfizer’s COVID-19 drug, which treats mild to moderate Covid in adults and pediatric individuals.
- As of 10:21 am CST: Brent crude oil up $0.31 to $75.60, US dollar index up 0.99 to 96.174 while the nearby e-mini S&P 500 futures contract is up 36.25 points to 4722.25.
Diesel
- Heating oil is up just over a penny this morning.
Gasoline
Propane
- Cold weather has worked it’s way into the forecast for parts of the northern US leading into the new year. A cold snap and steady exports could put additional stress on below average propane inventories.
Natural Gas
- The EIA showed a 55 bcf weekly draw, well below average draws for this time of year.
- European weather models lost 20 HDDS and 14 bcf of demand during the first week of January, a welcome shift considering tight inventories.
- A lack of a strong move from gas to coal for power generation acts to provide support with the recent price floor between $3.70-$4.00.
