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First Look - New Fortress delays first export from Altamira LNG project to July

Oil prices are trading slightly higher, with WTI above $80/Bbl
- Yesterday, prices traded up by nearly $2/Bbl, rising to the highest level since April
Asian refiners coming out of maintenance (BBG)
- Oil refiners across Asia are bringing back some idled capacity following seasonal maintenance, which could hurt already depressed refining margins
- As much as 400 MBbl/d, or about 10% of what has been taken offline, is set to return in June, according to Wood Mackenzie
- Wood Mackenzie added, “We don’t expect refining margins to recover over the next two to three months.”
- Weak margins can have a bearish impact on crude prices by potentially leading some refiners to reduce throughput, thereby reducing crude demand
Goldman Sachs says oil deficit shows more vividly (BBG)
- In a recent note from Goldman, the bank said it expects Brent prices to rise “modestly” to a peak of $86/Bbl in August
- The deficit in oil markets has become more visible as global and OECD stockpiles flip to withdrawals
- Oil markets have shrugged off a hawkish Federal Reserve and weak economic data from China

Natural gas futures trade higher supported by expectations that weather-driven demand will continue to chip away at the large storage surplus
- July ’24 Henry Hub is up 5.4c this morning to trade around $2.842/MMBtu (As of 7:57 AM)
- The Summer ’24 strip is up 4.4c to $2.931 and Winter ‘24/’25 strip is up 3.6c to $3.714
- Today’s Euro Ensemble forecast shifted warmer, especially in the Rockies (+17°F) and West (+14°F), with the Lower 48 maintaining its pattern and early July expected to continue the heat trend, while only the Northeast saw a notable decline (Criterion)
New Fortress delays first export from Altamira LNG project in northern Mexico to July (S&P Global)
- New Fortress has postponed the first LNG export from its Altamira terminal in northern Mexico to July, from the initial target of June
- The company has completed all necessary work and pre-commissioning activities, expecting to produce LNG within the next 10 days
- The terminal will primarily supply power generation in Puerto Rico under an "island-wide LNG contract" and can be delivered to the US without violating the Jones Act
- The Altamira project will use underutilized pipeline capacity from Mexican utility CFE on the 2.6 Bcf/d Sur de Texas-Tuxpan marine pipeline operated by TC Energy