Coquest

Coquest Daily Energy Report for April 19, 2024

Posted on 2024-04-19

Crude Oil futures for May settled up $.41 or .496% at $83.14. Crude futures held steady above the $83 per barrel mark on Friday, stabilizing after initial fluctuations, as Iran played down the significance of Israel’s recent incursion on its territory, indicating a lack of intention for immediate reprisal. In response, Israel initiated a strike early Friday, resulting in Iran's air defense system intercepting three drones over Isfahan. Market participants had been anticipating Israel's reaction to the previous weekend's hostilities, heightened by Iran's warnings regarding potential attacks on its nuclear facilities. Furthermore, the United States implemented fresh sanctions on Thursday, targeting 16 individuals and two entities associated with Iran's drone program, as part of its response to Iran's recent actions against Israel. Meanwhile, the EU is deliberating on additional measures against Iranian oil. Brent crude oil has experienced a decline of approximately 4% for the week, following a 0.7% decrease in the preceding period.

 

Natural Gas futures for May settled up $.045 or 2.629% at $1.757. On Friday, U.S. natural gas futures remained mostly steady, marking a 3.6% increase for the week, spurred by heightened flows of feedstock to LNG export facilities. The volume of natural gas entering the seven U.S. LNG export plants, including Freeport, surged by approximately 17% on Thursday, with preliminary data indicating a further rise to 11 bcf/d on Friday, rebounding from a recent low of 9.2 bcf/d recorded on Tuesday. Concurrently, U.S. gas production has experienced a decline of roughly 10% this year, attributed to delays in well completions and reduced drilling activities by companies like EQT and Chesapeake Energy. The latest EIA report revealed that U.S. utilities injected 50 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas into storage last week, pushing inventories to 36.4% above the seasonal average.

 

Read the full report here.

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