Data from the American Petroleum Institute revealed Tuesday that US crude oil inventories dropped by 328,000 barrels in the week ended Aug. 14, following a 9.07-million-barrel build the previous week, according to a Bloomberg-compiled survey.
The oil market now awaits the US Energy Information Administration's petroleum inventory report, scheduled for release on Wednesday.
A total of three storage tanks caught fire following a lightning strike at Explorer Pipeline's Glenpool tank farm in Tulsa, Oklahoma, early Monday morning, according to multiple media reports.The Tulsa Fire Department said the Glenpool Fire Department was working to contain a fire at the Explorer Pipeline tank farm."Three tanks are reportedly involved," the Tulsa Fire Department posted on X.Explorer has reportedly shut down operations to and from Glenpool as of Monday afternoon, according to Bloomberg.National Transportation Safety Board documents show that the Glenpool farm can store about 3.4 million barrels of fuel across over 30 tanks.Explorer did not immediately respond to' request for comment.
US wholesale electricity markets were mostly higher Wednesday afternoon, with PJM Interconnection's intraday prices reaching a peak of $725.99 per megawatt-hour, according to data from GridStatus.io.Electric Reliability Council of Texas' real-time locational marginal price was $27.99/MWh at 4 p.m. ET. Net load reached 50.84 gigawatts, with natural gas accounting for the largest share of the generation mix at 43.2%.California Independent System Operator's real-time LMP came in at $36.29/MWh at 4 p.m. ET. Net load was 4.73 GW, with solar accounting for the largest share of the generation mix at 59.6%.Southwest Power Pool's real-time LMP was $54.81/MWh at 4 p.m. ET. Net load reached 47.25 GW, with natural gas making up the largest share of the generation mix at 47.3%. Prices rose to an intraday peak of $123.97/MWh at 4:55 p.m. ET.PJM's real-time LMP stood at $241.45/MWh at 4 p.m. ET. Net load totaled 124.88 GW, with natural gas providing the largest share of the generation mix at 46.5%. Prices climbed to an intraday high of $725.99/MWh at 12:55 p.m. ET.Midcontinent Independent System Operator's real-time LMP was $52.17/MWh at 4 p.m. ET. Net load stood at 87.51 GW, with natural gas accounting for the largest share of the generation mix at 34.3%. Prices jumped to an intraday high of $109.36/MWh at 4:20 p.m. ET.New York Independent System Operator's real-time LMP came to $50.34/MWh at 4 p.m. ET. Net load reached 21.52 GW, with dual fuel representing the largest share of the generation mix at 31.6%.ISO New England's real-time LMP stood at $39.99/MWh at 4 p.m. ET. Net load totaled 14.73 GW, with natural gas accounting for the largest share of the generation mix at 55.6%.Independent Electricity System Operator's real-time LMP was $36.95/MWh at 4 p.m. ET. Net load reached 19.75 GW at 3:55 p.m. ET, with nuclear accounting for the largest share of the generation mix at 41.9%. Prices reached an intraday peak of $199.66/MWh at 7:50 a.m. ET.The National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center forecasts temperatures to stay above normal across much of the West and South from Aug. 25-31, with normal to below-normal readings across the Northeast.
US natural gas futures dropped in late trading on Monday as cooling weather forecasts reduced demand while production hit record levels and inventories swelled.The front-month Henry Hub contract as well as the continuous contract both lost 1.06% to trade at $2.704 per million British thermal units.Barchart said natural gas prices fell to a one-week low Monday as US weather forecasts shifted toward cooler conditions, potentially reducing demand from power generators for air conditioning.While NatGasWeather.com said the southern US would experience hotter-than-normal weather, The Commodity Weather Group said Monday that the US weather outlook had shifted toward cooler conditions, with average to below-average temperatures expected across the eastern population centers of the US from Aug. 22-31.Lingering heat across the southern US and recovering LNG feedgas demand continue to provide some support, but they have not been enough to overcome high production and comfortable inventories, Gelber & Associates said.On the supply side, Barchart, citing BNEF data, said lower 48 dry gas production was 114.1 Bcf/d, up 4.1% from output a year ago. That compares with a demand of 82.5 Bcf/d, up 5.1% over the year. The latest US Energy Information Administration inventory data showed stock levels at nearly 200 Bcf above the five-year average.Estimated LNG net flows to US LNG export terminals were 18.9 Bcf/day Monday, up 2.3% from the previous week as maintenance work continues at Freeport LNG.With less of the cooling season remaining for weather to meaningfully tighten balances, the market continues to discount the risk of adequate supply heading into winter, putting disproportionate pressure on Winter 2026-27 pricing, Gelber & Associates said.