Coquest

Coquest Daily Energy Report for March 7, 2024

Posted on 2024-03-07

Crude Oil futures for April settled down -$.20, or -.252%, at $78.93. Crude futures steadied near $79 per barrel on Thursday, maintaining a gain of over 1% from the prior session. The recent EIA report revealed a US crude inventory increase that fell short of expectations, with stockpiles rising by 1.367 million barrels last week compared to forecasts projecting a 2.116 million barrel build. Concurrently, US distillate and gasoline inventories experienced more substantial declines than initially predicted. Operational challenges have led to the shutdown of the Keystone oil pipeline, disrupting a significant channel for Canadian oil transportation to the United States. Fed Chair Jerome Powell indicated that he expects rate cuts this year, boosting the outlook for global growth and energy demand.

 

Natural Gas futures for April settled down -$.139 or -7.1% at $1.818. US natural gas futures fell to below $1.9/MMBtu following the EIA's storage draw report. Government data showed US utilities pulled 40 billion cubic feet of natural gas from storage last week, in line with market expectations. The report also showed gas in storage is 30.9% above the seasonal norm. Despite this, natural gas prices are set to rise for the third consecutive week as EQT announced a nearly 1 billion cubic feet per day reduction in production until March due to persistently low natural gas prices. Chesapeake Energy also cut its 2024 fuel production by around 30% due to recent price drops.

 

View the full report here.

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