By Bridget Hunsucker | March 29, 2013 06:16 PM Comments (0)
Two trains carrying crude oil derailed in the US this month, making headlines that garnered more attention to a recent debate over the in-vogue shipping method’s environmental impact.
The popularity of crude by rail shipments has opponents of major proposed crude pipeline projects (like Transcanada’s Keystone XL) asking the question: is rail transport safe?
By Samantha Santa Maria | February 26, 2013 12:38 PM Comments (0)
If you have any dabblings in the natural gas or natural gas liquids business: be very, very afraid.
Because it is growing and it is *everywhere*.
By Elizabeth Bassett | January 25, 2013 04:25 PM Comments (0)
Congratulations to everyone who lives in the Northeast. You’ve survived a ridiculously cold week, and the good news is temperatures could be around 10 degrees above average on Tuesday.
Congrats also to everyone involved in energy markets in the Northeast this week, because it was exhausting. We started this roller coaster ride a while ago, and just recently we had mild weather that lulled everyone into a sense of security, including me (remember the spot price for Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line zone 6-New York was down at $3.91/MMBtu on January 14?). And then the long holiday weekend and colder weather sent cash at Transco zone 6-New York upward, peaking out at $36.48 yesterday, the highest price since January 2, 2008, according to Platts data. It totally blew up my theory that New England gas would continue being the most volatile in the Northeast this winter. It also meant this morning was total chaos.
By Matt Kohlman | August 14, 2012 03:38 AM Comments (0)
They like sequels in California.
Maybe that explains why, for a second time this year, a fire has taken out a key crude distillation unit at a large US West Coast refinery, the West Coast’s third-biggest. And why, for a second time this year, spot gasoline price swings reached into record territory, and Golden State pump prices threaten $4/gal.
By Samantha Santa Maria | August 9, 2012 11:24 AM Comments (0)
As Tropical Storm Ernesto veers away from Gulf of Mexico production and the market shrugs off this force of nature, one has to wonder: Will hurricanes ever affect the gas markets again?
The last time gas markets–both spot and futures–reacted sharply to such storms was the year of Katrina and Rita, when hurricanes effectively took out the benchmark Henry Hub and its surrounding infrastructure.
That same year, GOM production went from a seven-year high of 10.63 Bcf/d (16.4% of total US production) to 4.35 Bcf/d once the storms struck, according to Energy Information Administration data.
By John Kingston | July 25, 2012 05:40 AM Comments (0)
The attention of the market is starting to turn to the middle of the barrel.
Two reports this week brought home the squeeze in distillates. It’s particularly notable because while the public and the political class, particularly in the US, focus on the price of gasoline, market experts know that a spike in the middle distillates is far more likely to occur than one in gasoline, where demand in the biggest consuming country–the US–continues to slide.
By News Desk | July 20, 2012 03:58 AM Comments (0)
The Asian paraxylene contract price for July was left in limbo as PX producers and downstream purified terephthalic acid makers failed to reach an agreement. The ACP monthly negotiation is led by four PX producers — ExxonMobil, JX Nippon Oil and Energy, Idemitsu Kosan and S-Oil — and six PTA makers — BP, Capco, Mitsui Chemicals Corp., Mitsubishi Chemical Corp., Oriental Petrochemical (Taiwan) Corp. and Yisheng Petrochemicals.
By John Kingston | July 6, 2012 04:22 PM Comments (0)
There is a hydrocarbon out there that you can buy for less than three pennies per gallon.
But that’s something that has just happened in the past few days. And while the decline in the price of ethane-propane mix in Conway, Kansas is in a very minor niche market, it’s still like nothing anybody has seen in a long time. The price is down close to 88% since April 1.
Further, it’s not just some fluke thing that has occured because of a busted unit or a pipeline explosion, an incident that knocks the normal market balance out of whack.
By Matt Kohlman | June 26, 2012 11:31 PM Comments (0)
US jet fuel costs have fallen by a fifth this quarter. Don’t be surprised if you don’t see it in your ticket prices yet. US airlines aren’t seeing it in their fuel costs yet, either.
There’s typically a lag in spot trading price changes for commodities being felt at the pump. But the jet lag — pardon the pun — isn’t just distribution. It’s also hedging.
By Matt Kohlman | June 19, 2012 06:21 PM Comments (0)
The spot price for the main grade of California-specific gasoline–known as Los Angeles CARBOB–slid below $2.50/gal for the first time today since January 2011. It is down by nearly a third from a multiyear high just four months ago. It is off $1/gallon in just the last month.
“How the mighty have fallen,” said one West coast trading source.
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