Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Price changes for Thursday, March 14th, 2019


Hi to all,



Here’s what I have for this week’s price changes. Keep in mind that winter blending is still in effect and that it mat throw off the distillate numbers a little.



*Heating and stove oils show an increase of 1.1 cents a litre.

*Diesel fuel shows an increase of 8/10ths of a cent, and...

*Gasoline shows an increase of two cents a litre.



Market highlights



CBS prices drop below Costco-for a short time.

In what may seem to be an oddity to some, for the first time in years, prices in Conception Bay South-went south- to a low of $1.11.9 at the pumps, while Costco, the major St. John’s player remained at $1.12.9 a litre.

        It didn’t take long for Costco to send a message however, that hopefully will be responded to by other St. John’s and northeast Avalon retailers. Costco dropped prices below CBS after a short time to sit at $1.10.9 at the pumps.

        Other retailers are selling at present for $1.17.9 while the majority are at $1.20.9 a litre.

        Keep an eye out for falling prices near you! The regulated maximum is at $1.21.7 a litre. Could mean a savings of up to $8 based on a seventy litre fill!



Venezuelan production falls again

Venezuela continues to feel the effects of economic unrest as crude oil production continues to retreat, this time to fall below 1.1 million barrels a day by another 60,000 barrels as measured for February month.

     The economic unrest has also shut off electricity in some areas of the country, possibly aggravating the situation.

     The figures from S7P Global are the most recent info I have, but OPEC information will also be available in the coming days that will no doubt, highlight both OPEC+ cuts as well as a drop in Venezuelan production.



Iran sanctions starting to kick in

Already under sanction, Iran will most likely start to feel another pinch soon as exceptions were made in exports to other countries as long as those countries took the time to find other suppliers.

     Countries such as China, India and Japan were given upwards of six months to make arrangements from other exporters so there’s an expectation that Iranian production will only start to fall back and start to take a bite out of world supply.

      Expectations are for Iranian exports to fall back from 3.7 million barrels a day in May 2018 to 2.7 million a day by the time sanctions fully take hold May 2019.



US inventories

The Energy Information Administration’s inventory report last week showed a build in crude inventories as some refineries remained down for regular maintenance. Capacity stalled at 87.1 percent while both gasoline and distillates showed a drop, gasoline down by 4.2 million barrels and distillate down 2.4 million.

     U.S domestic production remained at 12.1 million barrels a day.



That’s it for this week!



Regards,



George Murphy

Twitter @GeorgeMurphyOil

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