A source of support to the screen appears to be indications of increased refinery maintenance that should prove capable of reversing a dramatic 23-mil bbl up-trend in gasoline stocks during the past seven weeks. Production declines should also be driven by some slippage in gasoline yields. |
After Katrina, we're better equipped to analyze the potential for Rita and I don't think the upside response will be as exaggerated. |
Bottom line, refinery demand simply isn't there. |
But they do provide evidence that the oil infrastructure can bounce back pretty quickly after a really bad storm. These gasoline numbers give a cushion. |
By and large you had this myriad of refinery news which supported the products and pushed crude prices up. |
Crude stocks should show a sizable increase as an expected further recovery in imports toward 10 million barrels a day more than negates the impact of additional refinery restarts, |
Crude stocks should show a sizable increase as an expected further recovery in imports toward 10 million barrels a day more than negates the impact of additional refinery restarts. |
Crude supply is no longer an issue. We have plenty of it. However, that crude number is being countered to some extent by the large decline in gasoline stocks. |
Given the magnitude of the damage and flooding considerations, they are coming back pretty fast...especially within the framework of a lot of employees that have been misplaced. |
High prices are eating into consumer demand, and the focus is on gasoline because of the upcoming driving season. |
I think there is going to be a fairly precarious supply-demand balance. If we have a couple of refinery snags, there will be some product dislocations. |
It's easy to analyze this one because there is only one number to talk about. That gasoline build was just huge again. |
It's still somewhat of a coin toss. The odds lean against the possibility of this coming up the Houston Ship Channel. |
Retail prices are going to vary among regions but for all practical purposes $3 is a floor. |
Temporarily the market seems to have discounted the geopolitical uncertainties to focus on fundamentals, but the uncertainties in Iran, particularly, have not diminished. |