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NEWS
Petroleum futures were trading flat to higher in the overnight session on Friday despite losses in European shares and in US stock market index futures, as well as strength in the US dollar. Reuters reports that the OPEC+ joint ministerial monitoring committee (JMMC) meeting will now take place on December 16, one day before previously planned. Market participants awaited the US Producer Price Index and a consumer sentiment report, as well as the weekly US rig counts from Baker Hughes for further direction.
Asian stock markets closed mixed overnight with the Hang Seng up 0.4%, while the Nikkei fell 0.4% and the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.8%. India’s industrial production rose 3.6% in October, up from 0.2% in September. Economic data releases from Europe were neutral to supportive. The Consumer Price Index in Germany fell 0.8% last month, as expected. The Italian unemployment rate rose from 8.4% in Q2 to 9.8% in Q3, matching expectations. Industrial production in Italy rose 1.3% in October, beating the Econoday consensus at 1.1%. European shares were trading in the red this morning with the FTSE 100 and the CAC 40 both down 0.8%, whereas the DAX had lost 1.5%. US stock market index futures were seeing losses of around 0.6% as of this writing. Also unsupportive for crude prices, the US dollar index was up 0.2%.
Petroleum futures strengthened on Thursday amid news that the US could start COVID-19 vaccinations as soon as this weekend and weakness in the US dollar index, despite mostly lower trade in US shares. WTI crude rose $1.26 to settle at $46.78/bbl and Brent crude added $1.39 to close at $50.25/bbl. RBOB futures rose 4.07 cents to $1.3166/g and ULSD (HO) futures gained 3.68 cents to $1.4357/g. According to Platts, New York Harbor ULSD and ULSHO barge differentials to NYMEX weakened by 20 and 30 points to -0.50c/g and -8.75c/g, respectively, while HSHO barge differential held steady at -15.30c/g. Also per Platts, propane prices rose along with crude prices as Mt. Belvieu LST prices rose by 87.5 points to 59.625c/g and non-LST prices jumped 1.125 cents to 60.000c/g. Conway spot prices rose by 1.125 cents, reaching 55.875c/g.
NYMEX natural gas futures settled 11.1 cents higher at $2.553/mmBtu amid a stronger two-week heating degree day outlook and a bullish weekly storage report from the EIA. The EIA reported a 91bcf withdrawal from underground storage for the week ended December 4, well above expectations at 83bcf. The latest 1-5 day forecast (EC) calls for above-normal temperatures across the eastern half of the country. The 6-10 day outlook is more supportive with below-normal temperatures expected on the East Coast, while mixed temperatures are seen in the Midwest.