Petroleum futures were trading in the black in the overnight session on Monday amid gains in European shares, despite weakness in US stock market index futures, continued strength in the US dollar, and news that the container ship in the Suez Canal has been partially refloated. It was a quiet morning with a quiet day ahead on the economic calendar.
Reuters reports that the container ship that has been blocking the Suez Canal for almost a week has been partially refloated, according to the Suez Canal Authority. However, top container shipping lines said that disruptions in the global shipping industry could take weeks, possibly months, to clear. Also in the news this morning, Russia would support broadly stable oil output by OPEC+ producers in May, but would seek a relatively small output rise for itself in order to meet seasonal demand, according to a source. OPEC+ is set to meet on April 1 to decide output policy.
Asian stock markets closed flat to higher overnight with the Hang Seng steady, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.5% and the Nikkei added 0.7%. European shares were trading mixed but mostly higher this morning as the FTSE 100 was down 0.1%, whereas the DAX and the CAC 40 were both up 0.5%. In unsupportive news, US stock market index futures were seeing losses of between 0.1% (Nasdaq f) and 0.4% (Dow f), as of this writing. The US dollar index was up 0.04%, which is also unsupportive for crude oil prices.
Petroleum futures settled higher on Friday amid a continued blockage of the Suez Canal and gains in equities. WTI crude rose $2.41 to settle at $60.97/bbl and Brent crude jumped $2.62 to close at $64.57/bbl. RBOB futures added 4.64 cents, settling at $1.9673/g, and ULSD (HO) futures gained 6.22 cents to $1.8100/g. According to Platts, New York Harbor ULSD and ULSHO barge differentials to NYMEX strengthened by 35 and 75 points to -0.15c/g and -15.25c/g, respectively, while the HSHO barge differential held steady at -25.25c/g. Also per Platts, propane prices rose along with crude prices on Friday as Mt. Belvieu LST prices strengthened by 2.5 cents to 89.500c/g and non-LST prices jumped 3.5 cents to 90.500c/g. Conway spot prices rose 2.5 cents to 82.500c/g.
Natural gas futures edged down 1.3 cents on Friday, settling at $2.557/mmBtu. As of this morning, the latest 1-5 day outlook based on the European model calls above-normal temperatures in the Northeast, particularly in the New England area, while mixed but mostly below normal temperatures are expected in the Midwest. The 6-10 day forecast sees above-normal temperatures in both regions, with large deviations above normal temperatures expected in the Midwest.
