Coquest

Coquest Daily Energy Report for March 14, 2024

Posted on 2024-03-14

Crude Oil futures for April settled up $1.54, or 1.93%, at $81.26. Oil prices saw an uptick on Thursday, as the International Energy Agency's anticipation of a more constricted market in 2024 and its upgraded projection for oil demand growth this year. Russia's energy ministry also foresees an uptick in crude exports due to ongoing refinery shutdowns. Continuing for a second consecutive day, Ukrainian drone strikes targeted four significant oil refineries in Russia. Additionally, in the United States, both crude and gasoline inventories witnessed a significant decline last week, as revealed by government data on Wednesday. The anticipated consequence of major refinery shutdowns is a notable surge in pump prices in the coming weeks, just as the summer driving season approaches.

 

Natural Gas futures for April settled up $.083 or 5.00% at $1.741. US natural gas futures had a big rebound today, bouncing back from a recent dip after the EIA released its storage report. The report revealed that US utilities pulled out 9 billion cubic feet of natural gas from storage last week, exceeding market forecasts of a 3 bcf withdrawal. Moreover, CNX Resources unveiled plans to scale back well completions and gas production for the year due to the downturn in prices. Over the past month, US gas output has seen a 6% decline, with firms such as EQT and Chesapeake Energy intentionally reducing production. The timeline for the Freeport LNG outage remains unclear, delaying a return to normal US LNG feedgas levels until the plant resumes full operations, anticipated in mid- to late-March.

 

View the full report here.

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