- WTI is up 31c to $22.94/Bbl, and Brent is down 68c to $26.30/Bbl
- Oil prices are hovering in the low 20’s as governments continue to freeze economic activity to reduce the spread of the coronavirus
- Prices received a jolt on Monday morning after the Fed promised unlimited quantitative easing
- WTI was up 4% on the news and S&P 500 futures were up by about 2.9% as of 7:20 AM CT
- Texas Railroad Commission member Ryan Sitton discussed the idea of reinstating “pro-rationing” policies with OPEC secretary-general Mohammed Barkindo on Friday
- The Texas agency is split over the idea to restrict local crude production for the first time since 1973
- The idea of reinstating pro-rationing was backed by some shale producers namely, Parsley Energy and Pioneer Natural Resources
- The U.S. drilling rig count fell last week by 20 to 772, the lowest since March 2017, as producers pull back on spending (Baker Hughes)
- By basin, Texas lost the most, at 11, while New Mexico lost five and Oklahoma lost three
- Goldman Sachs expects U.S. oil production to fall 1.3 MMBbl/d over the next five quarters as producers reduce 2020 capex by an average of 35%
- Natural gas is down 3.5c to $1.569/MMBtu
- Six midstream companies are looking to reduce a combined $1.9 Billion in capital expenditures from their 2020 guidance, putting nearly 3 Bcf/d of new gas processing capacity and 700 MBbls/d of NGL takeaway capacity at risk (Platts)
- OneOk will forgo a 0.2 Bcf/d expansion at its Demicks Lake processing facility in North Dakota and will also delay a 100 MBbls/d expansion of their West Texas LPG pipeline in the Permian
- Hess Midstream noted it will specifically reduce expenses with new gathering systems
- The CFTC reported managed-money short positions fell 121,934 contracts to total 264,452 contracts
- Managed-money long positions fell 9,978 contracts to total 135,618 contracts
- U.S. LNG feed gas demand appears to have recovered with Monday’s volumes clocking in at approximately 9.5 Bcf
- Persistent fog has kept LNG cargoes from being loaded, in a timely manner, for much of the past month
