AMERICAS OIL: Venezuela License Loss Leaves 250k b/d USGC Shortfall: Vortexa
May-16 15:40
USGC refiners will likely need to look at other sources as Venezuelan barrels are expected to be phased out of the US market, leaving a shortfall of 250k b/d of heavy crude, Vortexa said.
- As things currently stand, Chevron is expected to wind down its operations in Venezuela by May 27.
- Vortexa said that Chevron Pascagoula and Valero St Charles have been the key destinations for Venezuelan volumes, comprising 67% and 80% of seaborne crude arrivals over the past two years, respectively.
- Replacement barrels for US refiners could come from heavy and medium sour grades from Canada, Mexico, Colombia, and the Middle East.
- Around 200k b/d could be freed up on the demand side from the shutdown of LyondellBasell’s 264k b/d refinery.
- Phillips 66’s Sweeny refinery also completed a project enabling a shift in its feedstock between heavy and light by 40k b/d, also helping to soften heavy sour demand.
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US DATA: GDPNow Lifted With PCE Tracking Highest Since Early March
Apr-16 15:40
- The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow estimate for Q1 real GDP growth has been revised up to -2.17% annualized from -2.42% in the Apr 9 update.
- The gold-adjusted alternative model was nudged up from -0.3% to -0.1%, offering a better readthrough to what might actually be reported by the BEA by stripping out monetary gold transfers.
- The upward revision was primarily driven by today’s retail sales and IP data for March, with the details suggesting an intra-update estimate of -0.5% for gold-adjusted after yesterday’s international price data.
- Indeed, tracking for personal consumption expenditure growth was revised up from 0.7% to 1.4%. That’s still a marked moderation in activity after 3.9% annualized in 2H24 or 3.1% Y/Y in Q4, and it would be the softest quarter since 2Q23, but it’s nevertheless the strongest Q1 tracking since Mar 7 in very early days for Q1 tracking.
- Questions remain as to how much tariff front-running there was in March although we noted after retail sales earlier that food services & drinking places saw an encouraging rebound after recessionary signs back in February.
US STOCKS: Midday Equities Roundup: Chip-Maker Curbs Weighing on IT
Apr-16 15:39
- Stocks are paring early losses ahead midday, the DJIA outperforming S&P eminis and Nasdaq indexes at the moment, Oil & Gas shares leading gainers as crude prices gained (WTI +1.35 at 62.68).
- Currently, the DJIA trades down 32.7 points (-0.08%) at 40338.31, S&P E-Minis down 40 points (-0.74%) at 5388.5, Nasdaq down 264.3 points (-1.6%) at 16560.98.
- Leading oil and gas shares include APA +3.96%, Devon Energy +3.58%, Marathon Petroleum +3.21%, Diamondback Energy +3.01% and Occidental Petroleum +2.65%.
- Other gainers included Abbott Laboratories +5.36%, Mosaic +4.55% and Travelers +4.14%.
- On the flipside, Information Technology sector shares were weighed down by Pres Trumps chip maker curbs: NVIDIA -6.93%, Advanced Micro Devices -5.96%, KLA -4.88%, Omnicom Group and Applied Materials both -4.50%.
FED: US TSY 17W BILL AUCTION: HIGH 4.225%(ALLOT 60.26%)
Apr-16 15:32
- US TSY 17W BILL AUCTION: HIGH 4.225%(ALLOT 60.26%)
- US TSY 17W BILL AUCTION: DEALERS TAKE 38.81% OF COMPETITIVES
- US TSY 17W BILL AUCTION: DIRECTS TAKE 1.61% OF COMPETITIVES
- US TSY 17W BILL AUCTION: INDIRECTS TAKE 59.57% OF COMPETITIVES
- US TSY 17W BILL AUCTION: BID/CVR 2.75
