- WTI is down 78c to $56.56/Bbl, and Brent is down 4c to $63.26/Bbl
- An Iranian ship thought to be heading to Syria was seized with the help of British naval forces off of Gibraltar (CNN)
- The US asked the UK for help in Thursday’s seizure, because the delivery would have violated UN sanctions against Syria
- Iran officials demanded the release, calling the capture “illegal” and “piracy,” and threatened to seize a British vessel in retaliation (Reuters)
- Various US and European economic indicators point to pessimism among corporate managers
- German industrial orders in May were weaker than expected, and its government warned of continued economic weakness (CNBC)
- US new orders for factor goods fell for the second consecutive month in May (CNBC)
- AEGIS notes these continued, negative indicators have been somewhat nullifying bullish supply-side fundamentals for crude oil
- EIA reported a draw of -1085 MBbls in U.S. crude-oil inventories for the week ending 6/28/2019.
- This was smaller than the average estimate of -2789 MBbls as reported by Bloomberg.
- US stocks had been decreasing at a faster rate, but levels are still higher than last year by 52 MMBbls
- Cushing storage, perhaps more important to Nymex WTI’s relative pricing, have changed little in a month
- Natural gas is up 4.4c to $2.334/MMBtu
- EIA reported a build of 89 Bcf for the week ending 6/28/2019. This was larger than the median estimate of 79 Bcf, and prices sank a few cents on the news
- Today’s stat fell within the expected range, which was 90 Bcf on the more bearish end, and 68 Bcf on the more bullish end
- Inventories for the US are now at a surplus of 249 Bcf to last year and a deficit of 152 Bcf to the five-year average
- Weather forecasts are trending hotter for the middle of July in the Central and Eastern US
- While Texas is also expected to be hotter, a ridge could keep temperatures from being much above normal
- Sur de Texas – Tuxpan, a large pipeline that would enable more South Texas gas exports to Mexico, will remain offline while a dispute is arbitrated
- The line has had multiple delays, and would have added demand to Texas Gulf Coast markets, but not providing Waha basis with much support
- Platts estimated US exports to Mexico could be capped at near 5 Bcf/d until the disputes with this pipeline and another are settled (Gas Daily)
