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Your Daily Energy Report for April 26, 2024
Posted on 2024-04-26
Crude Oil
Crude Oil futures for June settled up $.28 or .335% at $83.85. On Friday, oil prices saw an uptick, driven by concerns over escalating tensions in the Middle East. However, this increase was limited due to a strengthening dollar following the release of U.S. inflation data, which tempered expectations of an imminent interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve. The Middle East remained a focal point of concern, with Israel's military reporting airstrikes in Lebanon's West Beqaa District targeting a militant involved in attacks against Israel. Despite these geopolitical tensions, economic indicators painted a mixed picture, with inflation in the United States rising to 2.7% over the past 12 months, slightly above February's figure, in line with economist forecasts. Additionally, OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais emphasized in an opinion piece that despite ongoing discussions about alternatives, the demand for oil continues to grow steadily, indicating that the end of oil usage is not imminent.Natural Gas
Natural Gas futures for June settled down-$.063or -3.172% at $1.923.U.S. natural gas futures experienced a downturn but managed to settle above their lowest points as the May contract concluded trading. Data from financial firm LSEG revealed that the second-largest U.S. LNG export facility has been operating at less than 80% capacity due to technical issues, which have impacted U.S. exports. Freeport LNG's Quintana facility in Texas has been running with at least one of its three gas-processing trains offline since January 15. Over the past two weeks, it has only been able to intake enough gas to fully operate one of its trains. Exxon Mobil reported a 28% year-on-year decline in first-quarter profits, attributed to weaker refining margins and decreased natural gas prices despite gains in volume.