Price changes for Thursday, April 2, 2020

Hi to all,



Here’s what I have for price changes for this Thursday:



*Heating and stove oil to increase by 4/10ths of a cent a litre.

*Diesel fuel to increase by 5/10ths of a cent per litre, and...

*Gasoline to drop by 4/10ths of a cent.



Caution here: As winter blending is a combination of jet fuel and #2 in heating and Diesel fuels, there is a strong likelihood that heating and diesel will drop as a result of falling jet fuel prices.



Carbon taxes may also come into effect for gasoline, turning it 1.5 cents a litre up this week.



Market highlights



Saudi Arabia and Russia still at it

Both Russia and Saudi Arabia are still pumping oil as fast as they can ramp up production as the world turns eyes to faltering economies in the face of the Corona virus outbreak.

     With world economies slowing, it is estimated that world demand has dropped by 10 million barrels as of the second week of March, much to the chagrin of two nations who refuse to believe there’s a problem.

      Estimates by IHS Markit suggest that the demand destruction could amount to almost 20 million barrels a day, well down from the peak of 98 million barrels a day projected for this year.



Saudi’s set to produce more

According to OilPrice.com, the Saudi’s are preparing to ramp up exports by another 600,000 barrels a day starting May 1^st in an attempt to flood the markets and recapture market share.

      Production will also be set to increase by 250,000 barrels a day by then with Saudi Arabia reaching 10.6 million barrels a day in production.



Refiners shuttering in production

North Atlantic Refining isn’t the only refinery forced to idle.

     With gasoline margins in negative territory and jet fuel demand down 70 percent, major companies are shuttering refineries, or throttling back production close to 60 percent south of the border.

     Valero Energy, Marathon and Philips are all reducing production and throughput rates as gasoline is manufactured for less than the price of a barrel of oil with gasoline demand down a clear 50 percent.



Jet fuel prices continue to sink

As reported by the International Air Transport Association weekly report, jet fuel demand for North America sunk to a historic low as demand fell 59.2 percent versus the same time last year, and jet fuels sold for 26 cents a litre.

     World demand fell by close to 62 percent worldwide versus the same time last year.



That’s it for this week!



Regards,



George Murphy

Twitter @GeorgeMurphyOil