Your Daily Energy Report for July 30, 2024
Posted on 2024-07-30
Crude Oil
Crude Oil futures for September settled down -$1.08 or -1.425% at $74.73. Crude prices dropped on Tuesday, marking their lowest point since early June. This decline was influenced by ongoing concerns about demand from China, the world's largest consumer of oil. Recent data indicated an 11% decrease in China's total fuel oil imports during the first half of 2024. The market sentiment was further dampened by worries over China's economic outlook, exacerbated by disappointing GDP figures and an unexpected rate cut by the PBOC aimed at stimulating growth. Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East saw some relief as reports suggested Hezbollah had begun relocating precision-guided missiles, indicating a stance against provoking a full-scale conflict with Israel. The US has also been engaged in diplomatic efforts to discourage Israel from targeting major civilian infrastructure in Lebanon.
Natural Gas
Natural Gas futures for September settled up $.09 or 4.42% at $2.126. Natural gas prices rose on Tuesday, driven by soaring summer temperatures and Chesapeake Energy Corp.'s decision to maintain production cuts. Additionally, the amount of gas flowing to Freeport LNG in Texas was projected to hit a preliminary 14-month high on Tuesday, as the plant resumed full operations after a nine-day outage caused by Hurricane Beryl in early July. Analysts noted that increased gas consumption by power generators and rising LNG exports could lead utilities to withdraw gas from storage in the first week of August, a move not seen in August since 2006. Despite this, higher prices in April and May led some producers, including EQT and Chesapeake Energy, to gradually increase output.