There will likely be a brief (post-hurricane) spike as with Katrina. Hopefully it will not be prolonged. |
There's a bit of concern that demand has been destroyed as a result of the high prices. That was reflected in the OPEC report [Thursday] that revised down demand growth. |
Trading is rather quiet this week because of Columbus Day and the Jewish holidays. You often see big swings in prices when the volume is low. Also, gasoline is close to $1.80, which is probably a little overboard in spite of the fall in demand. |
We are looking to an active turnaround season because of all of the deferrals from the fall. Refineries that planned to upgrade facilities put them off because of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. |
We see a relief sell off. |
We were already on the rise through $65 on a few minor (refinery) supply disruptions. It's just another inflammatory issue to add to the short covering at the end of the week. |
We were already on the rise through $65 on a few minor supply disruptions. It's just another inflammatory issue to add to the short covering at the end of the week. |
We won't know the full extent of the damage for weeks. A lot of the damage that occurred when Hurricane Ivan came through last year was underwater, which was difficult to survey and then repair. |
will take time to filter down. |
With each leg lower in natural gas, it becomes that much more economical for larger industrial users to come back to natural gas. |