Data from the American Petroleum Institute revealed Wednesday that US crude oil inventories dropped by 300,000 barrels in the week ended Sep. 4, following a 2.6-million-bbl draw 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 Thursday.
Nodal Exchange reported higher trading activity across power, natural gas, and environmental markets in August, with power futures volume rising 8% from July to 214.2 megawatt-hours.Nodal said US power futures open interest reached 1.451 billion MWh at August-end, giving the exchange a 55% share of the US power futures market.The exchange launched 168 hourly power futures contracts across 7 locations on Aug. 31, offering 24 hourly contracts per location with expiries covering the next 5 days.Natural gas futures volume reached 51.2 million MMBtu in August, up 61% from 31.8 million MMBtu a year earlier, while open interest rose by 147%.Environmental futures and options recorded 35,150 lots in August, while open interest ended at 454,313 lots, up 12% from a year earlier, Nodal said.Carbon futures and options posted 12,792 lots of volume and 70,505 lots of open interest, while renewable energy certificates recorded 20,739 lots and 365,799 lots, respectively.Nodal and IncubEx launched financially settled futures and options tied to daily price assessments from Oil Price Information Service on Aug. 17.The products include Washington Carbon Allowance versus California Carbon Allowance spread futures, as well as California Low Carbon Fuel Standard credit futures and options."Managing risk in all of our markets is increasingly important, and we will continue to seek to best meet the evolving needs of the participants we serve," said Paul Cusenza, Chairman and CEO of Nodal Exchange.
US natural gas prices remained down in after-hours trading Tuesday as ample supplies and expectations for cooler weather later this month outweighed bullish near-term forecasts for heat across much of the country.The front-month Henry Hub contract and the continuous contract each fell 2.35% to $2.905 per million British thermal units.Above-average inventories and strong US production pressured prices despite near-term forecasts of hotter weather. Commodity Weather Group said forecasts had shifted hotter, with above-average temperatures expected across the US South through Sept. 17. However, its 11-15 day outlook calls for noticeably cooler conditions in the second half of September. Later-month forecasts caused prices to drop as low as $2.863/MMBtu earlier in the day.Natural gas demand remained elevated through early September. Barchart, citing BNEF data, said Lower-48 gas demand was 76.1 Bcf/d on Tuesday, up 12.3% from a year earlier. Celsius Energy said average daily powerburn for the week ended Sept. 7 was 45.4 Bcf/d, up 3.8 Bcf/d from the same week last year. However, powerburn fell to 41.2 Bcf/d on Sept. 7, Celsius said.Strong demand from LNG export facilities provided some support. BNEF data showed LNG feedgas flows were near capacity at 19.8 Bcf/d on Tuesday, up 1.9 Bcf/d from the previous week.But planned maintenance is expected to curb LNG feedgas demand in September and October. Natural Gas Intelligence reported that annual maintenance at Cove Point LNG in Maryland could reduce feedgas demand from Appalachia by about 850 MMcf/d for up to three weeks beginning Sept. 19.Strong production also weighed on the market. US output was estimated at 112.5 Bcf/d on Tuesday, while Canadian imports fell to 4.6 Bcf/d, according to Gelber & Associates, leaving the overall supply picture somewhat tighter than the previous week.But ample inventories more than offset the modest supply tightening. US natural gas stocks stood at 3,214 Bcf, 160 Bcf, or 5.2% above the five-year average, according to the latest weekly report from the US Energy Information Administration.
US electricity prices varied widely across major markets Tuesday afternoon, with natural gas dominating the fuel mix and intraday peaks reaching $378.30 per megawatt-hour, according to data from GridStatus.io.Electric Reliability Council of Texas' real-time locational marginal price stood at $22.62/MWh at 4 p.m. ET. Net load reached 47.14 gigawatts, with natural gas making up the largest share of the generation mix at 40.6%.California Independent System Operator's real-time LMP came in at $42.36/MWh at 4 p.m. ET. Net load was 12.72 GW, with solar providing the largest share of the generation mix at 51.3%.Southwest Power Pool's real-time LMP was $28.92/MWh at 4 p.m. ET. Net load totaled 40.72 GW, with natural gas holding the largest share of the generation mix at 35.7%.PJM's real-time LMP stood at $34.70/MWh at 4 p.m. ET. Net load reached 113.81 GW, while gas supplied the largest share of the generation mix at 41.3%. Prices rose to an intraday high of $276.35/MWh at 2:30 p.m. ET.Midcontinent Independent System Operator's real-time LMP came in at $35.44/MWh at 4 p.m. ET. Net load was 84.37 GW, with natural gas making up the largest share of the generation mix at 32.8%. Prices climbed to an intraday peak of $378.30/MWh at 7:00 a.m. ET.New York Independent System Operator's real-time LMP was $45.56/MWh at 4 p.m. ET. Net load totaled 19.61 GW, with dual fuel representing the largest share of the generation mix at 30.0%. Prices reached an intraday high of $202.70/MWh at 10:40 a.m. ET.ISO New England's real-time LMP stood at $62.38/MWh at 4 p.m. ET. Net load reached 12.43 GW, with natural gas providing the largest share of the generation mix at 46.1%.Independent Electricity System Operator's real-time LMP was $49.98/MWh at 4 p.m. ET. Net load was 19.68 GW at 3:55 p.m. ET, with nuclear accounting for the largest share of the generation mix at 44.1%.The National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center forecasts above-normal temperatures across much of the western and southern US from Sept. 16 to Sept. 22, with below-normal to near-normal readings across parts of the Midwest and Northeast.