Your Daily Energy Report for July 29, 2024
Posted on 2024-07-29
Crude Oil
Crude Oil futures for September settled down -$1.35 or -1.75% at $75.81. Oil prices dropped nearly 2% on Monday after Israeli officials expressed a desire to prevent a full-scale conflict in the Middle East while dealing with a deadly rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights over the weekend. Israel promised retaliation in Lebanon against Iran-backed Hezbollah, which denied involvement in the attack. Israeli jets targeted areas in southern Lebanon on Sunday. These tensions raised investor concerns about potential disruptions to crude output from the major oil-producing region, though production remains unaffected. Additionally, recent data revealed an 11% decline in China's total fuel oil imports in the first half of 2024, causing worries about demand from the world's largest crude importer. Last week, prices also fell due to news that the massive Dangote oil refinery in Nigeria is reselling U.S. and Nigerian crude cargoes following technical issues at the facility.
Natural Gas
Natural Gas futures for August settled down -$.099 or -4.935% at $1.907. Natural gas prices continued to decline from last week into Monday, with the market approaching key support levels. The global gas market was affected by the shutdown of one of the two trains at the Ichthys LNG plant in Darwin, Australia, along with ongoing issues in Norwegian gas fields that reduced availability for major importers. These events occurred alongside reports that Freeport LNG, the second-largest U.S. export facility, is drawing over 2 billion cubic feet of gas daily and is nearing full production capacity. Increased capacity for U.S. LNG exporters boosts foreign sales and heightens competition for U.S. buyers. Meanwhile, the latest EIA report revealed that U.S. utilities injected 22 billion cubic feet of gas into storage last week, exceeding market forecasts of a 15 Bcf increase.