Your Daily Energy Report for July 22, 2024
Posted on 2024-07-22
Crude Oil
Crude Oil futures for August settled down -$.35 or -.437% at $79.78. Oil prices declined for a second straight session on Monday, reaching their lowest point in over a month. Investors shifted their focus from U.S President Joe Biden's decision to end his reelection campaign to rising stockpiles and weak demand indicators. On Sunday, Biden withdrew from the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate in the upcoming November election. Energy policy is expected to be a significant topic between Harris and Trump, though analysts predict neither will push for drastic changes affecting oil and gas operations. Israeli fighter jets targeted Houthi military positions near Yemen's Hodeidah port on Saturday, resulting in at least six fatalities. The Houthis declared that they would continue their attacks on Israel. China surprised markets by lowering a key short-term policy interest rate and benchmark lending rates to stimulate its economy, having little effect on oil prices.
Natural Gas
Natural Gas futures for August settled up $.123 or 5.78% at $2.251. Natural gas prices increased to a one-week high, after rebounding from an 8.6% decline the previous week. This rise was fueled by the resumption of shipments from Freeport LNG following Hurricane Beryl and forecasts of hot weather. Freeport LNG, the second-largest U.S. liquefied natural gas exporter, had shut down on July 7 due to the hurricane's impact on Texas on July 8. Despite reporting wind damage, the facility has begun to restart, with gas flows expected to increase from 0.8 bcfd on Sunday to 1.0 bcfd on Monday. Overall feed gas flows for U.S. LNG exports were projected to rise by 0.5 bcfd to 11.0 bcfd on Monday. The shutdown had previously reduced gas flows to the seven major U.S. LNG export plants to 11.5 bcfd in July, down from 12.8 bcfd in June.