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Your Daily Energy Report for April 25, 2024
Posted on 2024-04-25
Crude Oil
Crude Oil futures for May settled up $.66 or .796% at $83.57. Oil prices remained stable on Thursday despite concerns over fuel demand stemming from slower-than-anticipated U.S. economic growth. This unease was countered by apprehensions of potential supply disruptions due to heightened Israeli airstrikes on Gaza's Rafah. U.S. economic expansion decelerated more than foreseen in the first quarter, yet an uptick in inflation hinted that the Federal Reserve might delay interest rate cuts until September. Notably, U.S. gasoline inventories declined less than expected, while distillate inventories rose contrary to projections of a decrease in the week ending April 19, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) figures released on Wednesday. These trends suggest a potential slowdown in demand. Despite ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza, oil supply remains unaffected, with no current indications of direct confrontation between Israel and Iran, a key oil-producing nation and supporter of Hamas, since last week.Natural Gas
Natural Gas futures for May settled up$.007 or .354% at $1.986.Today, U.S. natural gas futures saw a modest uptick, albeit dampened by seasonal factors and a larger-than-anticipated increase in storage. The most recent report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed that U.S. utilities injected 92 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas into storage for the week ending April 19th, 2024, marking the most substantial surge in six months. This exceeded market projections of an 87 bcf rise. Inventories now stand at 2,425 Bcf, representing a 439 Bcf increase from the same period last year and a 655 Bcf (or 37%) surplus compared to the five-year average of 1,770 Bcf.