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NEWS
Petroleum futures were trading flat to higher as of this writing despite bearish US crude oil inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute (API), losses in US stock market index futures, and mixed trade in European equities. Market participants looked ahead to the ADP Employment report and the weekly EIA inventory report for further direction.
The API reported a 4.15mb build in US crude oil stockpiles for the week ended November 27, while expectations called for a draw of 2.03mb (average of polls by Reuters and IHS Markit). Data for distillates were neutral as API showed a 0.33mb uptick in distillate stocks, near forecasts calling for a small draw of 0.05mb, and figures were unsupportive for gasoline as the industry group reported a larger than expected build of 3.40mb in gasoline inventories (vs 2.19mb). Cushing, OK crude oil inventories fell by 0.13mb last week, per API. The more closely watched EIA report is due at 10:30am.
Asian stock markets closed mixed near the unchanged mark overnight with the Nikkei up 0.1%, while the Shanghai Composite and the Hang Seng both edged down 0.1%. European economic data releases were mostly supportive. Retail sales in Germany rose 2.6% in October, beating the Econoday consensus at 1.0%. The Producer Price Index for the Eurozone rose 0.4% in October, above forecasts at 0.1%. The Eurozone unemployment rate fell from an upwardly-revised 8.5% to 8.4% in October, matching expectations. European shares were trading mixed this morning with the FTSE 100 up 0.5%, while the CAC 40 was down 0.5% and the DAX had lost 0.7%. US stock market index futures were seeing losses of between 0.3% (S&P f) and 0.4% (Nasdaq f, Dow f) as of this writing. The US dollar index was flat.
Petroleum futures fell yesterday amid delayed OPEC+ talks over next year’s output policy due to disagreement among some key members. WTI crude settled 79 cents lower at $44.55/bbl, and Brent crude fell 46 cents to close at $47.42/bbl. RBOB futures dropped 2.12 cents and settled at $1.2204/g and ULSD (HO) lost 2.41 cents to $1.3473/g. According to Platts, New York Harbor ULSD barge differentials to NYMEX weakened by 35 points to -0.35c/g, while HSHO and ULSHO barge differentials held steady at -15.30c/g and -8.20c/g, respectively. December propane prices made mixed moves yesterday, per Platts, as Mt. Belvieu LST prices fell 12.5 points to 56.750c/g while non-LST prices rose by 25 points to 57.250c/g. Conway spot prices weakened by 37.5 points, averaging at 54.000c/g.
NYMEX natural gas futures edged down 20 points to settle at $2.880/mmBtu on Tuesday amid a looser market balance expectation for next week. The latest 1-5 day forecast (EC) calls for above-normal temperatures in the Northeast, but mixed temperatures in the Midwest. The 6-10 day outlook sees mostly above-normal temperatures in the Midwest, while near-normal temperatures are expected in the Northeast.