Petroleum futures were trading in the black in the overnight session on Monday amid another Houthi attack on Saudi Aramco facilities and weakness in the US dollar, despite losses in US stock market index futures. Reuters reports that Houthi forces said that they had fired 17 drones and two ballistic missiles at targets in Saudi Arabia, including Saudi Aramco facilities in Jubail and Jeddah. There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi Arabia. Market participants awaited the Bank of Canada’s Business Outlook Survey and the US treasury budget for further direction.
Asian stock markets closed in the red overnight with the Nikkei down 0.8%, the Hang Seng losing 0.9%, and the Shanghai Composite dropping 1.1% lower. In economic news, retail sales in the Eurozone rose 3.0% in February, well above expectations at 1.2%. European shares were trading mixed this morning with the FTSE 100 down 0.3%, while the CAC 40 and the DAX were both up 0.1%. As of this writing, US stock market index futures were seeing losses of between 0.1% (Dow f, S&P f) and 0.2% (Nasdaq f). The US dollar index was down 0.1%, which is supportive for crude prices.
Petroleum futures settled flat to lower on Friday amid strength in the US dollar, despite flat-to-higher trade in equities. WTI crude fell 28 cents to settle at $59.32/bbl and Brent crude lost 25 cents to close at $62.95/bbl. RBOB futures edged up 28 points, settling at $1.9621/g, while ULSD (HO) futures edged down 22 points to $1.8076/g. According to Platts, the New York Harbor ULSHO barge differential to NYMEX weakened by 10 points to -15.35c/g, while ULSD and HSHO barge differentials held steady at 0.00c/g and -25.75c/g, respectively. Also per Platts, propane prices lost ground on Friday as Mt. Belvieu LST prices dropped 3.25 cents to 82.000c/g and non-LST prices fell 3.00 cents to 82.500c/g. Conway spot prices lost 3.25 cents to average 74.250c/g.
Natural gas futures edged up 40 points on Friday, settling at $2.526/mmBtu. As of this morning, the latest 1-5 day outlook based on the European model calls near to above-normal temperatures in the Northeast, while below-normal temperatures are expected in the Midwest. The 6-10 day forecast sees below-normal temperatures across the majority of the country, save for the West Coast.
