Petroleum futures were seeing flat-to-lower trade in the overnight session on Friday amid strength in the US dollar, despite mostly higher trade in European equities and in US stock market index futures. Reuters reports that the US Army Corps of Engineers will lay out its recommendations on the Dakota Access oil pipeline at a federal court hearing today. However, there are worries that President Joe Biden’s administration will decide to shut the pipeline. Market participants awaited the US PPI, the Canadian Ivey PMI, and the weekly US rig counts from Baker Hughes for further direction.
The Chinese Producer Price Index rose 4.4% year-on-year last month, above expectations at 3.5%. The Consumer Price Index in China rose 0.4% y/y in March, above the Econoday consensus at 0.3%. The Shanghai Composite closed 0.9% lower and the Hang Seng lost 1.1%, while the Nikkei rose 0.2%. In European news, German industrial production fell 1.6% in February, while forecasts called for a 1.5% increase. The German merchandise trade surplus narrowed from E21.2bn to E16.4bn in February. Industrial production in France dropped 4.7% in February, missing expectations calling for a 0.5% rise. In the supportive column, February retail sales in Italy jumped 6.6%, well above the Econoday consensus at 2.6%. The UK Halifax House Price Index was also a beat as home prices rose 1.1% last month, above forecasts at 0.2%. As of this writing, the FTSE 100 was down 0.1%, whereas the DAX had edged up 0.1% and the CAC 40 had added 0.3%. US stock market index futures were trading mixed near the unchanged mark with futures for the Nasdaq down 0.1%, while futures for the S&P 500 and Dow were up 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively. The US dollar index was up 0.2%, which is unsupportive for crude oil prices.
Petroleum futures settled mixed near the unchanged mark yesterday with strength in equities and weakness in the US dollar likely supporting. Brent crude futures edged up 4 cents to close at $63.20/bbl, while WTI futures fell 17 cents to settle at $59.60/bbl. RBOB futures rose 75 points to settle at $1.9593/g and ULSD (HO) edged up 19 points for a $1.8098/g settlement. The New York Harbor ULSD barge price differential weakened by 10 points to flat to NYMEX, according to Platts. HSHO and ULSHO barge differentials held steady at -25.75c/g and -15.25c/g, respectively. Spot propane prices fell yesterday, according to Platts, with Mt. Belvieu non-LST prices losing 3.00 cents to 85.500c/g and LST prices dropping 3.125 cents to 85.250c/g. Conway spot prices fell 2.50 cents to 77.500c/g.
Natural gas futures edged up 20 points yesterday, settling at $2.522/mmBtu. The latest 1-5 day outlook from the ECMWF continues to see above-normal temperatures across the eastern half of the country. The 6-10 day forecast is more supportive with below-normal temperatures seen in the Midwest, while above-normal temperatures are expected on the East Coast.
