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Oil Eyes Fed Decision, Russian Supply; NGPL Declares Outage

Oil retreats as traders eye Russian supply disruptions and Fed decision
- The WTI prompt-month contract slipped $0.34 to $64.18/Bbl Wednesday morning (7:45 AM CT)
- Ukraine struck the Saratov refinery in its latest attack on Russian energy assets, pushing OPEC+ output to the lowest post-pandemic level, according to Goldman Sachs
  - Bloomberg reported Russia’s weekly crude exports slumped, led by declines in Baltic shipments after drone strikes disrupted key facilities
- Later Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will announce its decision on interest rates
- API data showed US crude inventories fell 3.4 MMBbls last week, with official EIA figures due later in the day
Slovakia resists US pressure to curb Russian energy imports (Bloomberg)
- The country’s economy minister said Slovakia will continue buying Russian oil and gas until alternative supplies are secured
- He added that new infrastructure must first be built to enable full diversification away from Russian energy

Regional Market Insights

Updated regularly with the most important market moves and outlooks.

Natural gas is trading higher for a fourth day
- NGPL has declared a force majeure event due to an outage at a compressor station in Liberty County, Texas, reducing the amount of gas heading toward Louisiana
- Lower-48 gas production fell to 105.98 Bcf/d, the lowest level so far this month
Gulf South asks FERC to approve new pipeline project (S&P)
- Gulf South is requesting permission from regulators to construct the 1.18 Bcf/d Kosciusko Junction project in Mississippi, to serve Southeast gas demand
- Developers said, “The supply optionality provided by the Project will become increasingly important as LNG exports grow,”
- The project is expected to enter service no later than April 1, 2029