Price changes for Thursday, October 29th, 2015

Hi to all,

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

Heating oils to increase by 6/10ths of a cent a litre.
Stove oil adds 6/10ths of a cent a litre.
Diesel fuel adds 5/10ths of a cent, and...
Gasoline adds an additional 6/10ths of a cent a litre.

Consumers to see a slight increase to all fuels this week

 

St. John's, NL, October 27, 2015- Consumers in Newfoundland and Labrador can expect to see a rarity in the markets this week when the Public Utilities Board moves to adjust prices this coming Thursday, according to George Murphy, group researcher with the Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices.

 

"While commodity prices have remained relatively steady this past seven days, it's the price of oil that has been slipping, and that has dragged down the Canadian dollar, an important factor in figuring out Canadian commodity prices," Murphy said." We've lost two and half cents against the US greenback since the 20th of the month, and that means a rough two cents taken from consumers. We should be looking at a drop in prices, if the dollar stayed the same as last week's paring with the US dollar".

 

"In the meantime, lower oil isn't crimping on oil company profits. British Petroleum is the latest to step forth and report a $1.8 billion dollar profit over the last quarter, and that's a good $600 million more than what was expected. I expect other integrated companies to report good numbers in the coming days. Anyone with refining capacity is doing well, and this shows it. It's not just about pumping oil. It's all about the finished product as well.

 

"I'm looking at this week's Energy Information Administration's inventory data tomorrow to get a read on the future of the gasoline and distillate markets. I'm betting on, not only a build in inventories of oil, but of gasoline as well, as refiners seem to be coming back online from winter maintenance schedules. Refinery outages were reported at 1.8 million barrels last week, but data is now showing 1.1 million barrels of processing remains offline. I'm betting on more gasoline to be added, and perhaps another run down in prices later in the day."

 

(30)

 

For more information, please contact;

 

George Murphy

Twitter @GeorgeMurphyMHA

Price changes for Thursday, October 22, 2015

Hello to all,

Here's what I have for Thursday price changes:

Heating oil to drop by 3.1 cents a litre*.
Stove oils to drop by the same 3.1 cents a litre.
Diesel to drop by 3.2 cents a litre*, and...
Gasoline to drop by 3.8 cents  a litre.

*Note that both heating oil and Diesel fuel are subject to the winter blending now, so these numbers can just be used as a guide and not the actual that may occur!

Consumers to get another break at the pumps this week 

"Consumers can expect to see another break at the pumps when the Public Utilities Board moves to adjust prices this Wednesday midnight", according to George Murphy, group researcher and co-founder of the Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices. "Continued builds of gasoline inventory in spite of refinery outages due to winter maintenance have led to some good builds in inventories of gasoline. With the consumers of North America driving a little less than in summertime, it has started to reflect and impact prices substantially, and, this week too as predicted."

Final market numbers last week began to show that there was a substantial break for consumers about to hit, and I put the "warning" out of an impending drop in prices for this week that is coming to fruition. That prediction showed three cents across the board, and the final numbers were pretty close to that," Murphy said.

"I'm still seeing some heavy production out of OPEC and non-OPEC producers which continues to compound and lower oil prices. Floating storage figures still show a substantial amount of crude oil with nowhere to go, almost 164 million barrels in tankers, waiting for the call to sail.

"Again, with a possible end to winter refinery maintenance and turnover about to end, the return of refineries back to production has a possibility yet of impacting gasoline and other refined commodities down further. With 1.7 million in daily refining capacity offline right now, you can imagine the impact on the markets when they start adding again to inventories.

Most stations selling gasoline are already below a dollar a litre, and can be expected to sell a little lower as we get later in the week. The trend of prices looks steady for now, but once refining capacity kicks back in, should start to fall again".

********

For more information, please contact:

 

George Murphy

Group researcher

Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices

Twitter @GeorgeMurphyMHA

Price changes for Thursday, October 15, 2015

Hi to all,

Here's what I have for this week's price changes:

Heating oil shows a drop of just 3/10ths of a cent a litre.
Stove oil shows down by the same 3/10ths of a cent.
Diesel fuel shows a drop of 2/10thsof a cent a litre, and...
Gasoline shows a drop of 7/10ths of a cent.

 

*The real news may come next week on further drops in gasoline, diesel and heating oil prices as spot pricing has retreated somewhat the last two days. So far, gasoline shows a drop of three cents playing through on lower oil and a stronger Canadian dollar. Stove, heating oils and diesel all show the same trend in for next week as well. Anything can happen to change that in the coming days however!

In the news

OPEC production figures show a new record
OPEC produced almost 10.7 million barrels a day in September according to one report today, that probably led speculators when the glut of oil in the markets will end. While the union of oil producers wonders when the glut will lead to higher prices, they show no signs of reigning in production in an attempt to maintain market share. Oil in "floating storage" again continues to climb, signaling an abundance of oil with nowhere to go. Floating storage now shows close to 178 million barrels waiting aboard tankers with "no sale" in sight.

 

IEA lowers world demand growth for 2016

The International Energy Agency has lowered its forecast for oil demand growth by another 600,000 barrels a day, already adding bad news to a market well over-supplied. The IEA has dropped worldwide demand for oil to 95.7 million barrels a day. Over the last five years, the IEA has tracked a yearly increase in demand of oil products by 1.8 million barrels, but has dropped that back to 1.2 million barrels of added consumption for 2016.

Iraq production well up ahead of Iran's market "re-entry"

Iraqi production in the month of September has hit 4.2 million barrels a day, well up from 3.8 million recorded a few short months ago. While Iran waits in the wings to begin production to a market free from sanctions, Iraq is simply trying to maintain their own customer base, ahead of Iran's re-entry with an added 500,000 barrels  a day output.

 

That's it for this week!

 

Regards,

 

George

Twitter @GeorgeMurphyMHA

Price changes for Thursday, October 8, 2015

Hi to all,

Here's what I have for this week's price changes:

Heating and stove oil to increase by 4/10ths of a cent a litre.
Diesel fuel shows no change, and...
Gasoline shows an increase of 2/10ths of a cent a litre.

* A couple of notes first off. Winter blending is now in effect for heating oil as well as Diesel fuel. From now until later in spring, my numbers for these fuels will be slightly off because of the addition of jet fuel (kerosene) that is added as an anti-freeze agent. That's a fuel that I can't track as of yet. Use these numbers as a "guide" on the direction these fuels may go, and not the definitive.

In the markets

Russia and Saudi Arabia in talks
Interesting to hear that both countries are into discussions around the possibilities of controlling the outflow and production levels of crude oil. Both countries have a direct interest in supporting oil prices, but it could come at a cost if they're successful in limiting crude oil output.

At least, in the short term.

They run the risk of bringing back online all those wells that had been shut in as a result of lower oil prices, and in fact, if they do succeed in increasing oil prices, they may end up losing market share to US domestic producers and those countries who are waiting to also enter into the export markets. Countries like Venezuela and Ecuador are itching for oil prices to come back and they no doubt, will put out more oil to make up for lost revenues.

Still waiting in the wings however, is also the prospect of low China demand and Iran's entrance into the markets later this year in December, or in January, 2016. The entrance of Iran will add an immediate 500,000 barrels into an already over-supplied marketplace.

Oil up on lower US domestic production
The price of oil increased today on speculation that US domestic production has taken a pounding as a result of lower oil prices. Numbers are showing that production has dropped off anywhere from 500,000 barrels a day to as low as 150,000 barrels. That being the case, US domestic production rests somewhere around nine million barrels a day. Keep in mind though, that with any rapid rise in prices, there will be a response by the small oil producer out there. The spigots can be quickly turned back on.

Turning point?
"We're not there yet".
As some oil companies have said in the media, there's a belief that we've reached a turning point where they are saying a recovery is on the way, but they're not so eager to carry on with a return to oil $100 a US barrel. Predictions of a "recovery" include $57 US a barrel in 2016 and slightly more in 2017. What I do think is that they don't consider a rapid response from small US producers in the equation. $57 US is not a "recovery". It's a factor in determining if small producers turn the drill bits into the ground again.

I'll leave it at that for now,

Regards,

George

Twitter @GeorgeMurphyMHA

Price changes for Thursday, October 1, 2015

Hi to all,

Here's what I have for price changes for Thursday:

Heating and stove oils to increase by a penny
Diesel to increase by 8/10ths of a cent a litre, and...
Gasoline shows an increase of 3/10ths of a cent a litre.

 

In the news

 

A halt to Arctic drilling

Royal Dutch Shell has announced it is discontinuing its offshore exploration program off Alaska, and that goes in hand with sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine, in fact, hitting RDS twice. The plans by Royal Dutch Shell included a program of drilling in Russian Arctic waters that lay between that country and Alaska. While it may appear surprising, it shouldn't in a new world of $50 US a barrel oil along with the fact that they simply couldn't explore in their program against sanctions placed that disrupted exploration. It wasn't all about $50 US.

 

With the potential of upwards of 25 billion barrels estimated to be in Arctic waters, I find it hard to believe that they would turn away from a project that could result from the discovery of such potential reserves.

 

Canadian dollar figures against fuel prices...Again

The Canadian dollar has again accounted for a slight increase to prices this week. While some refined commodity prices slipped slightly this week, the drop in the Canadian dollar against the US greenback. Had the dollar remained stable this past week, we could have been looking at a drop of a penny across the board. As it stands right now, had the dollar been at par with the US dollar, we would be looking at heating/stove oils, gasoline and Diesel all 13 cents plus taxes lower than what we see to the consumer right now. 

 

 US refineries still down for winter maintenance

With almost 18.6 million barrel a day capacity, one would almost be in shock in learning that 1.4 million barrels is presently offline due to factors like winter maintenance schedules. No need to be alarmed as refiners routinely shut down refining to switch over to production of winter fuels like heating oils and diesel fuels at this ti. Refiner capacity should start to climb again in the coming weeks, taking further supporting pressure off gasoline prices as inventory is again added to stocks. 

 

That's it for this week!

 

Regards,

 

George

Twitter @GeorgeMurphyMHA

Price changes for Thursday, September 24, 2015

Hi to all,

Here's what I have for this week's price changes:

Heating and stove oils to drop by 4/10ths of a cent a litre.
Diesel also down by 1.4 cents a litre, and...
Gasoline shows a small drop of just 6/10ths of a cent a litre.

In the news
Refiner capacity
With refineries mostly into maintenance mode now, not a lot of gasoline is coming back into the markets that shows we're into a strong inventory building mode. With a drop in gasoline demand as a result of the end of the summer driving season, and refineries offline due to the switch to winter production, markets are showing relatively steady for gasoline prices as demand fails to seriously impact inventories. While no inventories have been impacted by demand, any possible build has been sidelined as well, and it's showing in prices that are mostly steady as a result.

Crude in "floating storage"
Latest numbers indicate an overall drop in floating storage as a market oversupply continues to weigh down prices. Present figures show almost 150 million barrels still out there in storage with nowhere to go as over-production continues to negate any sale of crude.

China keeps buying "low"
China continues to buy at almost record lows of oil over the last ten years, and they may very well be a factor in where oil goes in the coming years. With China adding almost 500,000 barrels a day to their strategic reserve at these low prices, China has undertaken a program of adding additional storage capacity to their strategic reserve. With China stocks filled with 220 million barrels of crude, their added capacity program includes close to an added 135 million barrels now under construction and an added 148 million in the planning stage.

Future price of oil
With "futures" pricing showing crude selling at $58 and change for fiscal 2017, the news is not good for those hoping for higher oil prices. Fiscal 2016 Brent prices are hanging in the mid $53 US a barrel range. China's continuing purchase of crude to add to its strategic reserve remains a vital factor in why oil has not crashed completely. That, and the fact that US domestic producers simply can't master production at lower levels without hurting their bottom lines. If prices do rise, US domestic will only increase again to lower them as producers try to gain some revenue from their investment.

Iran continues to weigh on oil
The promise of Iran's "re-entry" into the oil markets also continues to keep prices down. While Iran is continuing to work toward meeting the goals required to lift sanctions, word is that they're extremely close to meeting the December goal that could add another 500,000 barrels immediately to world production of oil. While some don't think it will figure, any past addition/cut by OPEC in oil production has to have at least the temporary effect of lowering prices in this case. There's more trouble ahead for Brent!

I'll leave it at that for now!

Regards,

George
Twitter @GeorgeMurphyMHA

Price changes for Thursday, September 17, 2015

Hi to all,

Here's what I have for price changes this week:

Heating and stove oils to drop by 2.2 cents a litre.
Diesel to drop by 2.9 cents a litre, and...
Gasoline to drop by 3.9 cents a litre.

In the markets
OPEC market tidbits
In what must be true irony, Venezuela is now proposing that OPEC adopt a new policy of having a minimum price for oil! With oil prices crashing and causing a stark reality of lower oil revenues to the OPEC member state, the country is having to face just how low oil goes as speculators also bet on how low prices can drop. In conversation the other day, I reflected on remembrances of OPEC being happy with maximum prices between $22 and $28 US as early as 1997 when I started studying oil. I wonder if they're really getting back to the new reality of oil now?

Iraq is asking oil companies operating there to reign in any capital spending for the next fiscal year, citing lower expected revenues from oil.

Out of China
China's future demand for oil is expected to drop further in the face of a weakening economy, with demand expected to drop from an added 400K barrels a day to only 260 K barrels a day better than what they use now. Slower growth comes a slower need with an economy in trouble. Latest word also has China adding just 400,000 barrels a day to their strategic reserves where they previously purchased 750K per day.

I'll leave it at that for now. If you need anything else, drop me a line.

Regards for now,

George
Twitter @GeorgeMurphyMHA

One of these days, I'm going to sit on a stage and give some of these oil companies some sage advice! Either that, or let them pick my brain...lol

Price changes for Thursday, September 10th, 2015

Hi to all,

Here's what I have for this week's price changes:

Heating and stove oils to increase by 1.9 cents a litre.*
Diesel to increase by 2.3 cents a litre*, and...
Gasoline also adds 1.1 cents a litre.

*With increases to distillate fuels like heating and diesel exceeding that for gasoline, it's an easy signal that speculators in the markets have now turned their attention away from the gasoline markets for the next little while. I expect more attention on these fuels from the speculators for the next few months
.
In the markets

Volatility in the oil market continues to show wild swings as they attempt to find at least a temporary bottom to oil prices. Speculators still fear a further drop in oil prices, probably part of the reason why oil hasn't shown any appreciable increase in the past few weeks. Indeed, the gains and sudden drops in oil are consistent with speculators continuing fears of bad economic news yet to come with the markets. Some speculators are saying oil prices could retreat even further, and as low as $30 US a barrel before we see some sense return to the markets.

The latest production figures from the US Energy Information Administration are telling some news that the "oil price war" is beginning to tell on overall US domestic production. The Saudi's fired the initial shots to try and reign in US production of domestic resources by driving down prices for oil to a point that it simply wouldn't be affordable to pump. US domestic production has dropped from peak production in July of 9.6 million barrels a day to the latest August 28th report of 9.2 million barrels a day. Of course, part reason of market fears whenever we see oil prices rally also centers on the fact that, while the spigots have turned off, any increase in oil prices can easily turn them back on again.

That's it for this week!

Regards,

George
Twitter @GeorgeMurphyMHA

Price changes for August 27th, 2015

Hi to all,

 

Here's what I have for this week's price changes:

 

Heating and stove oils to drop by 3.7 cents.

Diesel to drop by 3.9 cents, and...

Gasoline to drop by six cents a litre.

 

In the markets...

 

China...It's all about China.

 

With the collapse of the price of oil, it's easy to point to China as an example of how dependent the world has become in using China as a "crutch" to support oil prices. We all know that as an emerging nation, China would have an effect on demand for world oil, but no one yet has considered what has been done by China to break it's initial dependence on oil. It is estimated by some that China is about three years away from putting domestic drilling regulations in place so it can try and develop its own reserves. Through the years, I've also run into small tidbits from China that others have ignored. Shell, for example, just a couple of years ago, signed a huge agreement with China to develop both natural gas and join with the state-owned oil company in developing other "sources" of oil resources. No doubt, if the "frack" goes ahead in China soon, it will have started to crack its dependence on OPEC oil and done massive damage to OPEC's chief customers. Where does oil go then?

 

OPEC countries worried

 

"Weaker" OPEC producers are beginning to worry over overall OPEC production and the Saudi drive to cut US domestic production. In what is beginning to look more like a suicidal motion towards trying to maintain market share, some of the smaller OPEC producers are beginning to question the moves by Saudi Arabia in over-producing to try to maintain market share and cut into US domestic costs to produce. It's costing smaller OPEC members to also absorb the hit to their own revenues, and has them calling for an emergency meeting to address the long-term goal of OPEC. Are we witnessing a crack in OPEC unity?

 

It's been a long drive back from the west coast, so, I'm going to leave it at that for now.

 

Regards,

 

George

Twitter @GeorgeMurphyMHA

Price changes for August 20, 2015

Hi to all,

Here's what  have for this week's price changes;

Heating and stove oils show an added 4/10ths of a cent a litre.
Diesel fuel shows no change this week, and...
Gasoline shows an additional 1.5 cents a litre at the pumps for Thursday.

In the markets

December 18th...
That's the key day to watch for as the International Energy Agency says is the earliest date by which Iranian crude will be released clear of sanctions. It's estimated that, Iranian exports from the country will amount to an immediate influx of 500,000 barrels of crude oil a day with another 500,000 to hit the markets in the intervening six months. Brent crude prices have been showing a little to the "down side" in the last coupe of days, out of par with the movement of West Texas Intermediate.

Refinery outages lead to tight gasoline markets. Prices rise
In the mid-western US states as well as western Canada, consumers too a huge hit at the pumps with gasoline spot prices rising as much as 10 to 20 cents a litre as a result of a Whiting, Indiana refinery outage that took 400,000 barrels of crude processing offline. With refinery capacity at 96.1 per cent last Wednesday, it shows just how tight the gasoline market was. Still, almost 605,000 barrels out of a possible 18.3 million barrels of refining capacity remains offline. Gas prices in Calgary hit $1.22.5 cents a litre as a result.

Speaking of Calgary...
It's a shining example of what can happen to a rapidly growing oil industry that gets handicapped by the lack of export infrastructure and a lack of secondary processing. Prices for Western Canadian Select sold at market yesterday for $22 US a barrel, while in neighbouring Edmonton, their Syncrude Sweet sold in the markets for $37 US and change. While projects like Keystone XL and projects pushing oil to the BC coast remain delayed, also delayed is any possible recovery of Alberta crude oils without a "way out", barring any other geo-political or economic factors.

Jet fuel surcharges persist...
I'm surprised at the lack of reaction from consumers who still pay absurd amounts in fuel surcharges, even though the price of jet fuel is down close to 37 cents a litre less than it was for the same time period last year. Market numbers show jet fuel selling on the New York mercantile exchange for 50.7 cents a litre, down from 87 cents a litre.
              Overseas, airlines based in Asia, like Japan Airlines and South Korean will be revisiting their fuel surcharges based on lower than expected oil prices. Japan Airlines expects their fuel surcharges to be half of what they were this time last year. Can't say the same for here. What is the policy to our Canadian airlines, WestJet and Air Canada?

That's it for this week,

George Murphy
Twitter @GeorgeMurphyMHA

Price changes for Thursday, August 13, 2015

Hi to all,

Here's what I have for this week's price changes:

Heating and stove oils down by 6/10ths of cent a litre.
Diesel to drop by the same 6/10ths of a cent, and...
Gasoline to drop by 3.2 cents a litre.

Market news

China demand to hit oil?
Besides the fact that there's a problem worldwide with economic recovery, particularly evident are concerns around Chinese growth. Growth has been stagnant to say the least, with problems even arising in the Chinese trading markets. Add to that, the Chinese government's move late yesterday (today) to devalue its own currency in an attempt to attract more business to at least stabilize the downfall of industrial output. The move has led speculators to worry about the real problems in the China economy, and that, in turn, has led to another round of drops in oil prices. Fears abound about a further drop in oil demand in China, reflecting on oil.

Saudi's to drive oil lower?
If Chinese demand retreats as expected, a concerted move by Saudi Arabia to maintain overall production in the markets could lower oil prices to $36 US a barrel (WTI). The production figures out of Saudi Arabia show that 10.36 million barrels a day was pumped by the OPEC member in July. That leaves worldwide oil production at 2.9 million barrels a day more than what the world is consuming.

US domestic production keeps rising
Enter Uncle Sam...
Over the past eight months, US domestic production of oil has added close to 600,000 barrels a day, with US production hitting 9.4 million barrels a day. While OPEC is forecasting an added 90,000 barrels a day in consumption for the 2016 year, it hardly scratches both additional US domestic production and added oil to the markets from Iran, who boosted their own domestic production to 2.9 million barrels a day in anticipation of another entry into the markets. IF US producers can manage expenses in production costs, then oil prices are in a heap of trouble and bets for higher prices are off.

I'll leave it at that for now,

Regards,

George Murphy
Twitter @GeorgeMurphyMHA

Price changes for Thursday, August 6, 2015

Hi to all,

Here's what I have for this week's price changes:

Heating and stove oils to drop by 2.25 cents....
Diesel to drop 2.3 cent, and...
Gasoline shows a drop of just 8/10ths of a cent.

As predicted, with the drop in the price of Brent and WTI the last two days, the Canadian dollar took another pounding against the US buck. It's the lowest in six years right now.

Consider this: If the dollar was at par with the US dollar right now, you'd be looking at prices a rough 18 cents a litre lower than they are right now.

Right now, refiner capacity remains tight with levels reaching close to 96 percent of overall US capacity, and inventories of gasoline still show signs reflecting the market volatility.

"Demand" continues to be a factor in gas prices. As we come to the end of the summer driving season, there's some hope of further retreat, but I expect refiners and speculators to play with the fact that refineries across North America will soon begin winter maintenance routines, and they'll use that "excuse" to keep prices elevated.

We'll see what happens!

That's it, short and sweet for this week.

Regards,

George Murphy
Twitter @GeorgeMurphyMHA

Price changes for Thursday, July 30, 2015

Good evening all,

Here's what I have for price changes this week;

Heating and stove oils predicted to drop by 1.25 cents a litre.
Diesel to drop by 8/10ths of a cent, and...
Gasoline to drop by 3.2 cents a litre.

Market noise
Bank of America on oil
Bank of America is projecting more weakness for oil to come in the third quarter of this year. Expectations of the company show Brent prices to average $50 US from their previous estimate of $54 US  a barrel. Prices for WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were expected to average $45 US a barrel from their previous estimate of $50 US.

US domestic production seen rising
US drillers added an unexpected 21 drill-rigs to the markets this week. The move was a surprise, but shouldn't have been with investors looking for a return on their investment as well as expectations from cost cutting measures. Those measures included everything from salaries to "re-fracking" previously producing wells to get new production. The move removes previous drilling costs with the assumption being that the well is already done, so the frack can occur. Canada added eight rigs over the same time frame last week.

Brent prices to falter amidst market turmoil?
Oil prices pushed lower this last regulatory session as market unease in China played heavily through the week and continues to do so. As stated last week, there were considerable debate from market speculators about the longevity and stability of the markets in China. While growth has massively slowed, stocks there continue downwards, increasing doubts of overall Chinese oil demand. As well, all bets are off now in how much oil Iran can add to the markets, considering the world situation with oil prices. Speculators feel that, with massive world inventories of oil out there, Iran's addition of oil to the pot will only hinder the glut problem on the markets, making it less likely for oil prices to recover anytime soon. Add to that problem a simple fact that, with Iran's entry back into the markets expected soon, competition amongst oil producers will only increase, with that likelihood that everyone is going to be forced to compete for market share.

On this date
Brent oil price on July 29, 2014?...$106.47 US a barrel
Those were the days, my friend!...

That's it for this week!

Regards,

George
Twitter @GeorgeMurphyMHA

Price chenges for July 23, 2015

Hi to all,

Here's what I have for this week's price changes:

Heating and stove oils to drop by 1.4 cents a litre.
Diesel fuel to drop by an even penny, and...
Gasoline to drop by 2.1 cents a litre.

In the markets
Iran nuclear deal vs production
The nuclear deal with Iran has speculators more than skeptical and divided over how fast the OPEC country can overcome sanctions and get its oil industry moving again. While some speculators said last week that Iran would not be able to produce more than 500,000 barrels immediately for the world market, others are saying they can rebound production in less than four months, rather than the additional 12 months predicted earlier. It's going to be a "wait and see" approach that market speculators are going to have to take. Nothing bites the oil markets like reality!

August buying contract
Now, you'd hardly tell by the weather, but it should be a clue as to what's happening with gasoline prices this week. While gas prices are predicted to be down this week, it's a sure sign that we have to be close to the end of the August buying contracts. That means that the focus will shortly turn towards the distillate group of fuels. It's well known in the markets that, from the time of initial purchase of crude oil to the delivery of refined product, takes a rough forty five days to get to the consumer. Assuming that, we're now looking at speculators starting to turn their eyes later this week to distillate fuels like heating, stove oils and diesel fuel. The focus off gasoline this week with a slight drop in prices may simply be that; while the summer has not gone yet, the opportunity to make a buck in the markets off refined gasoline has come and gone. See what happens with gasoline for the rest of the summer, but futures prices are taking a dip as we get closer to September/October.

Canadian dollar drops
It should be no surprise that with the drop in the Canadian dollar against the US greenback as a result of the drop in interest rates last week, you could have been paying a lot less for gasoline than what I have here for this week. As compared to a month ago, the two cent drop in the Canadian dollar against the US dollar has cost you close to two cents t the pumps. What is showing as a 2.1 cent drop should be four cents this week, but thanks to the "wisdom" of the bank of Canada, its now a little harder for consumers to recover from this "recession". The drop in the dollar just doesn't affect fuel. It also hits consumers for anything, like food, that comes from the US.

That's it for this week!

Regards,

George Murphy
Twitter @GeorgeMurphyMHA

Price changes for Thursday, July 16, 2015

Hi to all,

Here's what I have for this week's price changes.

Considering all the moves in the international political arena, it may not be a lot of action in the refined commodity department, however!

Heating and stove oils show a drop of 1.8 cents a litre on the way.
Diesel fuel shows down by 2.1 cents a litre, and...
Gasoline shows an added 9/10ths of a cent.

Market news

Greece and the Euro
Greece continues to play in the markets, but as much as what people would have figured. With such a low gross domestic product and already an unemployment level that's pretty high, some are saying that Greece has played it's card on oil already. Greece amounts to a much lower GDP than China, which has it's own issues with the stock markets. There, the Chinese government has ordered government run agencies to begin buying stocks of private companies in order to maintain their value and help keep some semblance of order in trading. Some analysts are saying that we can expect to see another thirty percent devaluation of stocks there before stability reached their own markets.

Iran deal
While a deal over Iran's nuclear program has been signed, don't expect to see Iran's oil output to hit an added 1.8 million barrels right away. Analysts say that due to aging infrastructure, Iran can only produce an added 500,000 barrels a day more upon lifting of sanctions, and those sanctions have to be tested before they're lifted. Analysts also say that Iran will be able to add another 500,000 after six months has passed. But the kicker here is that Iran has over 30 million barrels of crude already in floating storage ready to hit the waves as soon as word is given. That's compounded by a total "floating" figure of 174.8 million barrels already waiting to go.

Iraq, Saudi Arabia continue to break production records. Libya back?
Word from Iraq shows that country increasing production again in July to amount to 3.86 million barrels, while it's neighbour, Saudi Arabia hitting production daily at 10.6 million barrels in what I believe is a move by those OPEC countries to stymy the revival of US domestic production. That's another reason why oil showed some retreat over the past week. To add to world glut woes, two of the fighting factions in Libya have reached an agreement to allow oil exports there to resume. Amongst the bloodshed, Libya has been exporting a rough 800,000 barrels a day through two coastal ports previously shut in.

Canadian dollar
The Canadian dollar against the US greenback lost another penny in a week that saw oil prices on the retreat again, albeit to the benefit of the US dollar. Whenever I see a retreat in oil, it's usually a time for speculators to invest in the US dollar, and that lowers our own, considering we have a dollar closely tied to performance of natural resources like oil.

That's it for this week!

Regards,

George Murphy
Twitter @GeorgeMurphyMHA 

Price changes for Wednesday, July 1st, 2015

Here's what I have for this week's price changes. This week, prices will be adjusted at midnight tonight as a result of the Canada Day holiday.

So really, consumers and the media get this notice just ahead of the price change itself!

Here's what I have for this week:

Heating and stove oils to drop by 27/100ths of a cent a litre.
Diesel to drop by 3/10ths and...
Gasoline to drop at midnight by 1.4 cents a litre.

A potential deal with Greece over it's debt may be at hand, and that helped to support oil prices in today's trading. Oil traded just slightly lower on the fact that there was a potential up to notice-time, of a Greek default on debt payments. Most European markets, while still down today, were more or less after insulating themselves from that possibility as a result of Greece's last troubles back in 2008-09.

In the meantime, there could be some more troubles with Brent prices. This time, news out of Antwerp is telling of steady builds in overall Brent inventories that may put those oil prices at risk of slipping. Capacity in Europe for oil storage is also starting to show issues in other major European regions as well as overall crude oil inventories keep climbing. In the meantime, oil in floating storage in the Arabian Gulf and centres close-by, show another climb, with oil inventories hitting 183.7 million barrels.

Closer to home, in the US, we could be witness to a bear awakening as US rig counts surprised everyone with the addition of TWO rigs to add to the weekly rig count. That's the first increase in the number of operable rigs in the US since December, 2014 when oil prices initially collapsed! Seems that cheaper operational costs may be factors in bringing some rigs back to life, but could also be a straw that broke the Saudi back spurring them to add production to stem the flow of US oil.

We'll see what happens there!

That's it from me this week!

Regards,

George Murphy
Twitter @GeorgeMurphyMHA 

Price changes for Thursday, June 25, 2015

I wanted to say first off a true heartfelt "Thank you" for all the kind words. I'm looking forward to finishing my term in November and getting more time with family. I think it's them that needed a break, so, I'm going to give it to them...

The numbers for this week all point down. Go figure...I pack it in and the price of gas drops!...

I should quit more often! Here's what I have for this week's price changes:

Heating and stove oils are pointing down by 4/10ths of a cent.
Diesel is also pointing down, but by a half cent, and...
Gasoline shows a drop of 2.5 cents a litre.

The Canadian dollar remained relatively steady against the US greenback this week.

OPEC production is expected to pick up again in the coming weeks that may throw a wrench into the oil markets and potentially send some prices down lower. With Iran nuclear talks set to begin, speculators are widely expecting that Iran, if sanctions are lifted, will begin an immediate climb to an output level not seen since 2008 when sanctions were tightened. Right now, Iran is pumping out 2.8 million barrels a day, but is widely expected to hit 4 million barrels if sanctions are removed.

Libya officials are saying to expect that country to start exporting oil again shortly. Government officials predict that output there will hit 800,000 barrels a day by July in a move that could add more oil to an already over-supplied European market.

Saudi Arabian officials are saying that, if the world need arises, they can boost production capacity by between 1.5 and 2.0 million barrels a day, remarkable considering the country already put out 10.3 million a day last month.
 

I'll leave it at that for now!

My regards, and again, thanks for all your thoughts and prayers!
George Murphy,

Price changes for Thursday, June 18, 2015

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 

Price changes for Thursday, June 11, 2015

Sorry I'm late, but computer issues at home didn't allow me to get in and post last night!


Here's what I have for this week's price changes:

Heating and stove oils show down by 2.0 cents a litre.
Diesel shows a drop of 2.2 cents a litre, and..
Gasoline shows a very modest drop of just a half penny.


Better than nothing, I guess...


The Canadian dollar remained relatively steady against the US dollar this week against the volatility of oil. Numbers for oil were simply all over the place with rapid movements up and down.


Part of the reason for oil's increase the past two days itself may seem odd. While industry insiders have been saying that OPEC is pumping record amounts to maintain revenue, Saudi Arabia itself responded on this rare occasion to tell the same industry insiders that they were pumping record amounts in order to meet demand from their clients. Oddly enough, the numbers for oil in floating storage seem to show something happening with all that extra oil the Saudi's have on hand. Floating storage numbers showed a drop of close to nine million barrels this week to sit at 173 million barrels.



Unusual in itself, that one got the markets moving amidst speculation that the Saudi's may be right. An open question in itself: While the Saudi's are supposedly pumping record amounts, if demand does pick up, will there be enough capacity for Saudi Arabia, or OPEC,  to meet it?


Speculation as well over Iran being able to enter the markets with an added 1 million barrels a day. That was the number a lot of insiders were kicking around as a possibility that an agreement would be reached over access and monitoring of Iran's nuclear program. The details of the agreement were supposed to be finalized this week, but politico's in Iran are worried over sovereignty and security issues with monitoring of sites not previously agreed to.

Finally, while the Saudi's continue to pump to knock out smaller US producers, their program seems to be working. But here in Canada, it seems smaller producers continue to come back online. Due to the lower Canadian dollar, one can only speculate, but rig counts in Canada climbed another 18 rigs last week while the US dropped 10.


I'll leave it at that for this week!

That's it for this week!

Regards,

George Murphy
Twitter @GeorgeMurphyMHA 

Price changes for Thursday, June 04, 2015

Hi to all,

Here's what I have for this week's price changes:

Heating and stove oils add 15/100ths of a cent.
Diesel adds 2/10ths of a cent, and...
Gasoline adds 1.7 cents a litre.

The Canadian dollar took another pounding against it's US counterpart this week as the US dollar gained on speculation of impending interest rate increases to come. That dropped the Canuck buck, which lost another two cents against the US greenback and helped to again raise gas prices this week as well.

In the meantime, OPEC meets later this week, June 05th in Vienna, to discuss production quotas that seem to have hit new records themselves in spite of lower demand for oil. OPEC pumped 31.579 million barrels a day last month in an effort the Saudi's are calling to knock out higher cost producers. Iraq produced a record 3.87 million barrels a day of that.

But there's danger ahead for oil prices, if some market indicators are right. The decline in rotary rig counts in North America may be slowing, as all signs point to lower cost producers coming back online in Canada. Here, the rig counts were up by 26 for the last week with the US just down by ten. Lower costs to produce here can partially be cited here for the additional working rigs. That, and an increase in oil prices over recent weeks has raised the bar on profitability.

As well, I keep watching the floating storage numbers increase in the Middle East with floating storage of oil now accounting for 185.1 million barrels in tankers with no-where to go. IF OPEC keeps pumping out a record production for oil over the next while, it could lead to another collapse in oil prices in their vain attempt at hitting high cost producers.

I'll leave it at that for this week! Any questions, feel free to drop me a line!

Regards,

George Murphy
Twitter @GeorgeMurphyMHA