US Presidential Elections Seems To Have Been Taken In Stride With Only Minor Moves In Energy And Equity Markets

Energy markets are moving lower again to start the week after a big Friday sell-off pushed prices to 5-week lows. The latest weekend surprise in the US presidential elections seems to have been taken in stride with only minor moves in energy and equity markets.

Traders also seem to be shrugging off news of Israel’s retaliatory strikes in Yemen over the weekend and instead focusing on a weak technical outlook, ample inventories and soft demand.

Chicago continues to be the big story in cash markets as Exxon Joliet remains offline after a power outage a storm-induced power outage a week ago, and estimates still suggest it will be another week before power is restored. Chicago RBOB traded above a 60 cent premium to futures Friday, making it the most expensive gasoline in the country by a wide margin. The overhang of diesel across most of the country is evident here as well as diesel basis values in the region are holding close to even with futures despite the downtime.

Total’s Port Arthur refinery reported another upset Friday as that facility tries to recover from a power outage the week prior. The downtime at that facility has had minimal impact on basis values in the USGC as inventories remain ample and refinery runs are relatively high. We have seen some modest buying in the USGC RBOB market that has reduced the discount to futures by around 3 cents over the past week, but it seems that’s probably caused more by shippers that want to send barrels north to Chicago to supplement Joliet. The modest strength in Gulf Coast gasoline basis has pushed the premium for Colonial line 1 space below 3 cents/gallon, marking the lowest level in 2 months

A drone struck the 240mb/day Tuapse refinery near the Black Sea Monday, sparking a fire. That refinery has been struck multiple times by drones this year, and the extent of the damage at the facility is unclear.

Money managers were acting largely bearish in last week’s CFTC report, which isn’t too surprising given the heavy selling we saw to start the week. Large speculators cut length in Brent, RBOB and Gasoil contracts, while adding to the net short position in ULSD. European diesel (Gasoil) had become a popular bet recently, with managed money length reaching a two year high in recent weeks, only to see more than a third of that length wiped out last week alone. The exception to the rule last week came from WTI, which saw a net increase of more than 10,000 long positions held by money managers while open interest increased by more than 3% on the week. Given the weak finish Friday and start today below the $80 mark, those funds that decided to bet on higher WTI prices last week may be looking for a do-over now.

Baker Hughes reported the US oil rig count declined by 1 last week, reaching the lowest total since December 2021. Natural gas rigs meanwhile saw an increase of 3 rigs last week, the 2nd increase in 3 weeks, moving further away from the multi-year low set in June. The tick higher comes despite US natural gas prices dropping by 1/3 over the past 6 weeks, and may reflect the expectations for more LNG export capacity coming online in the next year which will allow more US production to reach global markets.

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