Diesel Prices Are Trying To Lead The Energy Complex Higher This Morning

Diesel prices are trying to lead the energy complex higher this morning, having rallied 35 cents in the past 3 days. Gasoline and oil prices seem to be unwilling participants in diesel’s attempted rally however, following stock markets back into the red after a big rally Wednesday.

Besides the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, refinery closures from maintenance and strikes across Europe are also adding a bullish factor for distillate prices this week.  It’s worth noting that the COVID impact on refineries is still coming into play, as facilities that put off projects 2 years ago when they were struggling to survive now have no choice but to catch back up in order to keep those facilities operating. 

Speaking of delayed maintenance: Valero is reportedly delaying maintenance at its Memphis TN refinery to (presumably) have more supply to send north on its river system that supplies much of the Ohio river valley during a period of unusually tight supply caused by other refinery outages. Meanwhile, most workers at the Husky refinery in Toledo were laid off this week, in another sign that that facility won’t be coming back online anytime soon after the deadly fire last week. Note the big drop in PADD 2 refinery runs, and the low PADD 2 inventory levels to see why suppliers are continuing to scramble in that market.

Speaking of which, gasoline prices in California are now higher than they were during the summer peak, as futures rallied and basis values held at the record-setting $2.45/gallon premium to RBOB Wednesday. Take a look at the PADD 5 inventories which touched a fresh 10-year low last week.  

While gasoline supplies are extremely tight, renewable energy supplies must be building rapidly as the LCFS credits that were the big reward for producers who can bring those products to California have plunged to a fresh 8 year low below $70/credit this week. Those credits are now worth less than half of what they were at the start of the year, and will provide a disappointing return to so many who raced to ramp up production (in several cases by shutting down their crude oil refineries) over the past 3 years. 

Renewable diesel has led the surge in production, but that product is not yet tracked on a weekly basis like traditional diesel or even ethanol is, so it’s hard to say where actual inventories are. On the other hand, it’s clear that traditional diesel stocks are pretty low as they have rallied sharply this week, with prompt values trading near a 50 cent premium to futures, and creating another scary forward curve for shippers still trying to recover from the backwardation extremes seen earlier in the year. 

Hurricane Ian continues to batter Florida after making landfall as a category 4 storm yesterday.  Damage assessments around the port of Tampa should start today, and the early indications from the Ft. Lauderdale area are that those facilities escaped major damage which will aid resupply as the storm passes. The revised path takes the storm further out to sea east of Jacksonville, which “should” keep those terminals from staying out of operation for long, and there’s a chance that this huge storm may have just threaded the needle crossing the entire state without making a direct hit on any of the major fuel ports. There’s another tropical depression that could get named in the next couple of days, but the projected path keeps it far out to sea and not a risk to land.

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