- WTI is down $1.57 to $53.78/Bbl, and Brent is down $1.10 to $58.82/Bbl
- Oil is plunging this morning after China reportedly says it will apply a 5% tariff on US crude oil imports as of Sept. 1 as part of the latest back and forth in the US-China trade war
- WTI was hovering around $55.40 and then at 7:00 AM CT news broke about the tariff sending WTI down over 3% at the time of this writing
- Other US goods are included in the Chinese tariffs, amounting to $75 billion
- Nearly half of the rigs operating in Venezuela are at risk to shut down by Oct. 25 if Trump administration doesn’t extend a 90-day waiver from sanctions (Bloomberg)
- Consultancy group Caracas Capital Markets compiled the data showing that Venezuela’s production is at risk
- Output for the OPEC member is already near the lowest level in over 75 years
- Consultancy group Caracas Capital Markets compiled the data showing that Venezuela’s production is at risk
- Natural gas is down 3.1c to $2.128/MMBtu
- The EIA reported a build of 59 Bcf, which was slightly lower than the 61-Bcf build analysts expected
- Total storage now stands just shy of 2.8 Tcf
- This is 369 Bcf more than last year, but 103 Bcf less than the five-year average
- Next two weeks of injections are estimated to rise by 60 Bcf and 85 Bcf
- As natural gas hovers around three-year lows, forecasted lower demand could put pressure on gas prices if production continues to increase (PointLogic)
- Gas production is still humming around 92 Bcf/d despite plans to roll back drilling CAPEX, especially in the Appalachia area
- However, demand has slipped below 70 Bcf/d and should continue as cooler temperatures persist across the United States
- The majority of demand erosion is concentrated within the Midwest and Northeastern regions
