Oil market recap: week ending 22 February 2015

PIRA Energy Group has said that resource control policies have remained in a holding pattern throughout 2014, despite the collapse in oil prices in the second half of the year. In the US, PIRA has said that commercial stocks have declined slightly while in Japan crude runs have been high as well as built and products have drawn.

USA

• Last week’s large crude stock increase was met for the first time this year with an ever larger product stock decline.
• The decline is causing overall inventories to fall, for the first stock decline this year, be it modest.
• Stocks fell a little bit more last year for the same week, pushing the year on year inventory surplus up.
• Crude oil accounts for 63 million bbls, or 45%, of the year on year surplus.
• Ethanol prices advanced the week ending February 13.
• Economics held relatively steady for the second straight week.
• Strong heating demand drove a major draw in domestic propane stocks and was enough to keep propane prices unchanged on the week.
• Butane prices gave up 1.6% as the end of blending season nears, while natural gasoline fell 1% week on week.
• Ethane was carried higher with natural gas.

Japan

• Crude runs increased once more and hit their highest level since mid March of 2014.
• Crude imports remained strong and crude stocks built.
• Finished product stocks drew with moderate draws for naphtha and kerosene.
• There were lesser draws on other major products.
• The indicative refining margin remained strong, with all the major product cracks firming.

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/refining/25022015/oil-market-recap-end-22-feb/