Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Price changes for Thursday, March 16, 2017


Hi to all,



Here’s what I have for this week’s price changes, baring in mind that winter blending mat throw off the distillate numbers slightly from the actual that may occur.



*Heating and stove oils show a drop of 3.1 cents a litre.

*Diesel shows a drop of 3 cents a litre, and...

*Gasoline shows a drop of just 2/10ths of a cent a litre.



Market highlights



Focus off distillate turning to gasoline

     If you were a speculator in the distillate market, you didn’t make a pile of money, but you didn’t really lose either. Both ways you look at it, prices were moderate, even to some consumers.

     But it’s time to pull out now, and as you do, you turn to the gasoline markets where, hopefully, you’ll see a rise in demand as spring and early summer comes on.

     So, while consumers should start to see some expected drops in distillate prices here into the summer, those same consumers begin to see some support for gasoline: just part of the reason why no big drop in the gasoline markets this week.

     But don’t expect too much pressure yet, mind you!

     Until consumers see an uptick in demand, expect no immediate growth in gasoline prices this summer. With near-record inventories of gasoline out there this spring ahead of the switch-over from distillate to gasoline, there’s going to be reason for concern for refiners and Big Oil when refineries begin turning out more gasoline for consumption.

     What’s bad for them though, is not necessarily a bad thing for consumers...



OPEC blinks

     OPEC member Saudi Arabia reported today that they secretly increased production upwards from January adding another 260,000 barrels a day to production.

     The Saudi’s produced 10.1 million barrels a day, from 9.8 million barrels a day in January.

     Now, if I were a betting man, I’d put my money on one simple reason: That U.S shale has become a bigger influence on OPEC oil policy than anyone realised. My guess is that, adding a little oil to the markets is an attempt to “taper off” US growth in domestic oil and still allow them to survive.

     It’s a “warning”...

     What OPEC does in the next two months will be determined by what U.S domestic in the next two weeks with domestic production figures when they are released by the US Energy Information Administration.



     That’s it for this week!



Regards,



George Murphy

Twitter @GeorgeMurphyOil

No comments: