Clipper Oil: Latest Fuel News - Oil Prices Fall As Economic Fears Override Fundamentals

Latest Fuel News

November 2022

Oil Prices Fall As Economic Fears Override Fundamentals

Crude oil prices fell early this morning after closing Wednesday with a gain. Data showing China’s service sector contracted for the second month in a row and expectations that the U.S. Fed will continue with its aggressive rate-hiking approach have added to downward pressure.

Earlier in the week, unverified reports about a pending relaxation of China’s COVID restrictions pushed oil temporarily higher but in the absence of official confirmations either way the effect fizzled out quickly.

Now, it’s the latest reading of the Chinese Purchasing Managers’ Index that has weighed on oil prices. The October PMI reading, according to HSBC, stood at 48.4, which was lower than expectations and also lower than 50 - the level that separates growth from contraction. Continue reading here (Source: OilPrice).

White House Announced $13.5 Billion Funding to Help Households With Energy Bills

President Joe Biden's administration will make $13.5 billion available to help low-income U.S. households lower their heating costs this winter, the White House said on Wednesday.

As part of the initiative, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is providing $4.5 billion in low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding, it said in a statement.

U.S. consumers can expect to pay up to 28% more to heat their homes this winter than last year due to surging fuel costs and colder weather, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected in its winter fuels outlook in October. Continue reading here (Source: Reuters).

Gasoline Prices Are Dropping But Truckers Can't Catch a Break

Gasoline prices have started to hit the brakes, but it has been full steam ahead for diesel, with U.S. supplies of the fuel used in freight transportation and agriculture dropping to their lowest on record for this time of year.

That has kept U.S. diesel prices high at the pump, with a gain of more than 8% in October, even as gasoline saw little change to prices this past month, based on data from GasBuddy.

Shortages of diesel fuel around the globe and in the U.S. spurred the latest price advance, says Brian Milne, product manager, editor, and analyst at DTN. Milne refers to U.S. diesel fuel inventory as “extraordinarily low,” with supplies in the Northeast “critically low.” Continue reading here (Source: MarketWatch).

Will Electric Vehicles Kill The Gas Station?

In the farthest Denver suburbs, just off Interstate 25 stands a gas station called Kum & Go that doesn’t look like a battle zone. But it is.

One clue is in plain sight as you look around during the boring few minutes it takes to top off your tank. Plopped in the corner of the lot like an afterthought are four vertical red slabs.

They’re electric vehicle charging stations, capable of reviving an EV and its battery in about half an hour. It is no exaggeration to say they could be the most disruptive thing ever to confront that century-old fixture of the American roadside: the gas station. As more Americans drive their shiny new electric vehicles onto the highway and wonder where to go when the battery nears empty, charging stations are the agents of a revolutionary fill-up — not of gallons but kilowatts, not five-minute “stops” but half-hour “experiences” that could completely transform the tenor of the road trip. Continue reading here (Source: Energy Wire).

'Extraordinarily Low' US Diesel Supplies Keep Prices for the Fuel High At the Pump

That has kept U.S. diesel prices high at the pump, with a gain of more than 8% in October, even as gasoline saw little change to prices this past month, based on data from GasBuddy.

Shortages of diesel fuel around the globe and in the U.S. spurred the latest price advance, said Brian Milne, product manager, editor, and analyst at DTN. Milne refers to U.S. diesel fuel inventory as “extraordinarily low,” with supplies in the Northeast “critically low.” Continue reading here (Source: MarketWatch).

Large Oil Companies Post Massive Profits As Consumers Feel Squeeze From High Gas Prices

High gas prices are on the minds of Americans a week before the election. At the same time, oil and gas companies are reporting record-breaking profits.

President Biden lashed out and called for a new windfall tax if companies don't use some of that money to lower energy costs for American consumers. New York Times energy correspondent Cliff Krauss joined William Brangham to discuss. Continue reading here (Source: PBS).

EIA: Factors That Drove US Natural Gas Prices Down

Injections into U.S. working natural gas storage in the Lower 48 states during the 2022 injection season (April through October) have brought storage levels back near historical averages. The overall increase in natural gas storage was driven primarily by five consecutive triple-digit increases in September and early October. U.S. natural gas injections totaled 427 billion cubic feet (Bcf) in September—a month that included the second-largest weekly net injection on record during the week ending September 30 (129 Bcf), according to data from our Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report (WNGSR), a report that dates back to 1993. In September, reduced seasonal demand and strong natural gas production led to more natural gas injections into underground storage and lower natural gas spot prices.

For the past five injection seasons, an average of 18% of natural gas injections into storage during the refill season occurred during September. We currently estimate that this September, natural gas injections into storage accounted for 21% of the total, according to WNGSR and our Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). Continue reading here (Source: Fuels Market News).