Crude oil and refined product futures continued to weaken Tuesday morning, with some spot market prices falling to more than $1.25/gal below highs reached in April.
While some modest buying stabilized gasoline and West Texas Intermediate contract, there are concerns Wednesday's weekly supply and demand numbers from the Energy Information Administration may lead to more selling.
Sources surveyed in OPIS's weekly volume canvas suggest U.S. gasoline demand last week was unusually low. Sales were more than 5% below the week leading up to the extended U.S. Memorial Day weekend and EIA could put an implied demand at between 8.5 million and 8.8-million b/d in the week ended Friday.
Sources continue to suggest motor fuel consumption is lagging the same time of last year by 1-2%, but there are still hopes for a compressed and strong driving season from the summer solstice through Labor Day.
The NYMEX July RBOB contract fell to as low as $2.2985/gal in the morning session, but recovered some ground to trade up 0.01ct to $2.3355/gal just ahead of midday.
Spot gasoline prices were mixed, with modest increases of 1.25cts/gal or so reported in the Gulf Coast and Group 3. But prices in other markets were fractionally lower.
While cash gasoline prices typically dip in May and June, this year's declines are larger. San Francisco spot gasoline, which was priced at about $3.61/gal in the first week of April, was barely above $2.38/gal in morning trading.
Retail prices in Northern California, however, have not tracked weaker wholesale values. Prices at the pump there have fallen by just 25cts/gal, or less than 25% of the wholesale market decline.
OPIS is beginning to record some rack prices in the rest of the country at below $2/gal. That mark was broken in southern Illinois, some parts of Michigan, Indianapolis and several locations in Wisconsin.
Crude oil futures fell as low as $72.48/bbl for WTI and $76.76/bbl for Brent Tuesday morning and both benchmarks are at or near long-term lows. The NYMEX July WTI contract was down by $1.17 at midday to $73.05/bbl and August Brent was $1.13 lower at $77.23/bbl.
Diesel contracts have slipped to levels not seen in more than a year. If prices settle below $2.2323/gal this week, it would mark the lowest closing numbers since December 2021 or several months before the Ukraine War.
The NYMEX July ULSD contract was off by about 1.2cts to $2.28/gal at midday.
The entire diesel calendar strip was under pressure with declines of 2.25-2.5cts/gal.
This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
--Reporting by Tom Kloza, tkloza@opisnet.com; Editing by Jeff Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-04-24 1236ET
