Hi to all,
Here's what I have for price changes this week:
No changes expected for heating and stove oils. Numbers show close to
zero predicted, but remember my margin for error of 3/10ths of a cent a
litre.
Gasoline shows an added 3.1 cents a litre coming for Thursday.
Well, you might be thinking "every excuse in the book to raise prices"
and you may be right, but there is some evidence out there to support
why speculators are starting to pour some dollars back into the gasoline
trading market again.
Demand is up, plain and simple...
Here's my read:
With gasoline being consumed at a good rate now, because of the summer
season, no doubt, I'm seeing refineries running at a little better than
94 percent of overall capacity. I haven't seen a number as high as that
in a long time, but it tells you exactly how much gasoline is being
used. Right now, in the US, demand has outpaced itself and has grown an
added 1.1 percentage points in the last four weeks alone. They're
consuming gasoline in the US at a remarkable 9.35 million barrels a day,
while capacity has only allowed for 9.1 million barrels.
While
OPEC has again produced at another record number, the oil they had in
floating storage is starting to move lower. Latest numbers I have show a
drop of close to 20 million barrels from just last week. Is this a sign
that someone is buying the stuff, or is this normal in the rotation of
their inventory? I'm keeping a close eye to this one.
Water shuts
down most refineries. That, and a lack of electricity. Don't expect the
remains of tropical storm Bill to affect the markets too much. When it
landed on part of the Texas coastline yesterday, it landed in an area
far from the major area for refining in the US. Most refining facilities
are centered close to the Louisiana border with Texas, the same area
that got pounded with heavy wind and rain from hurricanes Rita and
Katrina in 2005.
I'll leave it there for this week!
Regards to all,
George
Twitter @GeorgeMurphyMHA
No comments:
Post a Comment