- WTI is down $2.22 to $17.89/Bbl, and Brent is down $1.57 to $28.03/Bbl
- Oil continues to be under pressure after multiple gloomy demand forecasts and a weak physical market
- WTI fell below $18/Bbl on Friday morning as data showed China’s economy suffered a historic slump in 1Q and OPEC expecting demand of its crude to fall to the lowest in three decades
- Futures have also been under pressure as weak demand has caused concerns that stockpiles, at the storage hub of Cushing, Oklahoma, will fill to capacity
- Russia and Saudi Arabia hinted at the possibility of further output cuts after the latest OPEC+ deal to reduce supply failed to illicit a positive price response (Bloomberg)
- OPEC’s own research projected on Thursday that even full implementation of the cuts won’t prevent a surplus 2Q
- Saudi Arabia’s bin Salman has said that his country is ready to cut oil production further if needed when OPEC+ meets again in June
- “Flexibility and pragmatism will enable us to continue to do more if we have to,” bin-Salman said on Sunday
- Natural gas is up 9.6c to $1.746/MMBtu
- Freeport LNG has completed construction of its third and final train with commercial operations expected to begin in May
- Cameron LNG also received FERC approval to begin feed gas delivery into its third and final train
- Annova LNG also received a key air permit, from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, for its 0.85 Bcf/d export terminal
- On Thursday, the EIA announced an injection of 73 Bcf for the week ending April 10
- This injection is nearly 3 times the five-year average build of 27 Bcf
- Storage now stands 72%, or 876 Bcf, above last year’s levels of 1.221 Tcf
- Spot JKM prices have hit a new record low of $2.186/MMBtu as global purchasers defer cargoes amidst a drastic collapse in demand
- According to Platts the Global LNG market is still expected to grow by 4% in 2020, despite the demand drop
