- Retail regular gasoline prices fell by 0.8c in the last four weeks to $3.484/Gal. About 55% of the change was due to the price of crude oil, while the remainder was the refinery margin
- Scroll down for a chart of the RBOB-WTI crack spread, a measure of refinery margin. It shows elevated cracks this year
- Total motor gasoline inventories fell by 5.6 MMBbl for the week ending July 19 and are 2% below the five-year average for this time of year
- Hedge funds send bullish gasoline bets down to pandemic lows (Bloomberg)
- Hedge funds' net-long position in gasoline futures fell by 9,001 lots to 22,158 in the week ended July 23, the lowest in four years, deviating from the typical summer demand increase, according to data from CFTC
- US gasoline demand dropped after the July 4 holiday, and short-only gasoline positions reached a seven-year high
- Reduced driving and Hurricane Beryl impeding exports led to a supply build, though demand has recently picked up, and stockpiles have dropped
- However, summer driving season continues, indicating potential for stronger demand in the near-term
- Motiva to restart gasoline-producing unit at Port Arthur refinery (OilPrice)
- Motiva Enterprises plans to restart the 81 MBbl/d gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker (FCC) at its Port Arthur refinery on Tuesday after shutting it down last week to repair a leak
- On Monday, Motiva restarted the 200 MBbl/d VPS-4 crude distillation unit (CDU) at the 626 MBbl/d refinery, which is the second largest in the U.S.
- The Port Arthur refinery produces conventional gasoline, commercial aviation fuel, ULSD, and other fuel types, typically outputting 275 MBbl/d of branded fuel and 40 MBbl/d of base oil
- Analysts expect a volatile summer for U.S. gasoline and diesel prices due to an anticipated busy hurricane season and high temperatures, which could disrupt refinery operations along the Gulf Coast
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- Retail diesel prices fell by 4.4c to $3.768/Gal in the last four weeks. About 51% of the change was due to the price of crude oil, while the remainder was the refinery margin
- Scroll down for a chart of the NY Harbor ULSD-WTI crack spread, a measure of refinery margin. It shows elevated cracks this year
- Distillate fuel inventories fell by 2.8 MMBbl for the week ending July 19 and are about 9% below the five-year average for this time of year
- US demand for gasoline running flat but jet fuel higher, Valero execs say (Valero)
- US gasoline demand YTD has remained level with 2023, while diesel consumption is slightly lower, despite a "fairly resilient" U.S. economy, according to COO Gary Simmons
- Part of the decline in diesel demand has been offset by higher jet fuel consumption, resulting in slightly lower overall distillate demand
- Gasoline imports into the U.S. West Coast have been trending higher, further pressuring refiner margins due to higher supply and "softer demand"
- Valero plans to operate its seven U.S. Gulf Coast refineries at 95%-98% of their combined total throughput of 1.8 MMBbl/d in Q3
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