Good morning,

Crude oil started off the week where we left it last week.  All information seemed to be pointing to higher prices.  In addition to supply tightness, Libya announced a pipeline going offline on Monday taking even more crude oil out of the market with no date of return.  And then on Wednesday, the U.S. reported a 12 million barrel draw in crude oil inventory.  I have not seen a number over 10 million barrels in years.  These factors are some of the most bullish news for crude prices in weeks.  Although Saudi Arabia and Russia are reporting to bring more crude oil to market, it will take time.  And then Trump announced that maybe he will offer waivers on Iran imports.  And then Libya “mysteriously” fixed its terrible pipeline problem in one day.  And even further, the U.S./China trade war took a new turn.  Regardless of this additional news, not much changed in the crude oil supply.  In fact, I thought by Wednesday morning, I would be writing that WTI crude prices were going from $75/barrel to $80/barrel.  Instead, WTI fell…yes fell… to almost $70/barrel.  The largest one day drop in years.  Myself and others are scratching our heads.  Refined products fell over 10cents/gallon as well.  I feel like we are living in a Seinfeld “Bizarro World”: down is up, and up is down.  For now, I’m sitting back waiting to see if we can truly unwind prices back to the original support price of WTI at $64/barrel.  My thought is that we will not fall that far, but in “Bizarro World”, your guess is as good as mine!

Refined product cost dropped for both gas and diesel.  I expect to see prices at the pump start to go down a little.  But who knows with these market conditions.  We could take off again higher next.  For now, volatility is the name of the game.

Although crude prices have dropped over 6%, propane prices have not.  I believe that propane has carved out a floor.  Basically, traders are saying with these prices that no matter what happens to crude, prices can’t go below current levels.  If propane drops any further, traders would be better off exporting all propane instead of storing for winter.  Summer fill is in full swing.  We also released next season’s heating contracts.  Please call now and have your tank filled at the lowest price of the year, and lock in your cost for next season.  I am still calling for propane prices to increase this heating season.

As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to give us a call.

Best regards,

Jon Crawford – Pres.

Good morning and Happy 4th of July!

We hope that everyone had a safe and enjoyable 4th of July celebration.  A special thanks to Steve Krueger, Steve Krueger II, and Emma Carpenter for helping in the Pardeeville Parade yesterday.  The day was hot, but we had a great time handing out candy and koozies!

The markets are choppy due to a short week of trading.  I will update more next week.  Please call now for your summer fill on propane and sign up for your 2018-2019 heating contract.  Information is available and being mailed out this week.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to give us a call.

Best regards,

Jon Crawford – Pres.

Good afternoon,

Well, as I wrote since the last pull back in crude prices, I’ve stated that some key issues needed to play out in order for us to gain a potential predictable direction for crude prices.  Unfortunately, a triple whammy of events struck this week causing a massive gain in crude prices.  And I can safely say that the prediction for prices is now higher for the remainder of the summer.  OPEC has only decided to add an additional 1M barrels into a market that many believe is undersupplied by as much as 2-2.5M barrels.  The analysis caused crude prices to spike, especially WTI as the action puts more pressure on U.S. crude production.  Then on Tuesday, Trump announced that he would not ease into allowing countries curtailing their Iranian crude purchases starting in November.  He called for “absolute zero” purchases.  The action caused a massive spike in crude prices, more so in WTI due to the additional pressure on U.S. production.  And then today, the EIA inventory report posted a massive draw of over 9M barrels in crude inventory.  The announcement caused crude prices to rally hard once again, with WTI prices closing in on less than a $5/barrel spread to Brent.  WTI has closed in from over an $11 spread to Brent, to now just under $5.  The closing of the gap will greatly affect futures pricing for refined products here in the U.S.  Basically a 10-15 cent/gallon premium has just been added into the market.  I hate to bring bad news, but high energy prices are going to be here for some time unless Russia and Saudi Arabia greatly increase their production capacity.  The U.S. is pretty much at max production capacity and any supply disruption is going to have major upside consequences on market prices.

In local retail news, I would expect to see summer gasoline prices to stay around $2.75/gallon and diesel prices to stay above $3.00/gallon.  Unfortunately with all the events of this week, crude prices will not be able to unwind fast enough to offer relief in prices this summer.

Propane prices are also starting to take off.  We are still at the lowest price of the year and I highly suggest that all customers fill their tanks now.  We also have released our next season’s heating contract pricing.  We suggest that everyone contract their propane for next year given all the supply and geopolitical issues in the market.  Please call the office to schedule your summer fill and lock in your heating contract.

As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to give us a call.

Best regards,

Jon Crawford – Pres.

Good morning,

I’m going to keep this short and sweet so you can get back outside and enjoy the spring weather that finally arrived!

Crude prices are continuing to stay at the highest levels since 2014 and WTI is preparing to break through $70/barrel. Gasoline retail prices are now over $2.50/gallon and diesel retail prices are over $3.00/gallon. Historically, these prices mean that customers start to consider changing behaviors. The amount of “free spending” money that has been sucked out of the economy due to these price increases is staggering. Based on the amount of gasoline gallons sold per day (this does not even include diesel fuel), $300,000,000/day additional is now being spent on gasoline compared to when gasoline prices were at $2.00/gallon! The increase in money spent on fuel is going to catch up quickly to consumer spending behaviors. Right now the risk premium is still on for crude. We need about $8/barrel to come off of crude prices to get cost back in line with consumer sentiment. But I don’t see a possibility of that happening until we get through the Iran nuclear deal deadline in the middle of May. So for now, be prepared to spend your extra cash on gasoline.

Propane prices have skyrocketed in the last week due to do increased demand in April and lack of building inventory. I don’t expect to see retail prices go much lower, if at all, over the coming two months. Next year’s contract pricing will be released probably in June. Summer fills are probably going to be very close to today’s prices. More information will continue to be released and updated.

As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to give us a call.

Best regards,

Jon Crawford – Pres.
Crawford Oil and Propane

Good morning,

Crude oil prices have been on an absolute run this week. Continuing from the Syria attacks, crude prices continue to find bullish support in geopolitical tensions. Traders are worried that Trump will pull out of the Iran deal and cause 500k barrels of crude to come off the table which would put the market into deficit by end of summer. In addition, physical inventories in the U.S. dropped to four year lows this week. Then after WTI broke through $67/barrel, Saudi Arabia came out and said that they would love to push WTI crude past $70/barrel towards $80/barrel. Seems like no matter what anyone says that can be interpreted as bullish for crude, traders are finding tread to grind prices higher. An interesting fact though is that the U.S. increased production to another record and is now pumping 10.6M barrels/day of crude. We are getting very close to over taking Russia and our increase in production is happening much faster than expected. At these rates, without any change in supply disruptions from the Middle East or Venezuela, the world crude oil market will start to move into surplus inventory building by the end of the year or sooner. In other words, a major correction could be on the horizon towards the end of the year. I just don’t see what has drastically changed in true physical crude fundamentals to cause a $10/barrel spike in prices. But for now, we are holding on tight until the end of the month.

In local news, spreads in gasoline prices are all over the marketplace. The fact is that gasoline and diesel prices have gone up. I expect to see gasoline prices well above $2.49 gallon, and diesel prices above $2.89/gallon.

Propane has steadied out due to the massive increase in demand for April. We are officially experiencing the coldest April on record which is very supportive of propane prices. Like crude oil, we are hanging on tight until the end of the month and then reevaluating. Information on summer fill and next season’s contracts will follow at some point in June.

As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to give us a call.

Best regards,

Jon Crawford – Pres.
Crawford Oil and Propane

Good morning,

Well, the game of Ping-Pong continues on the crude market. This week, due to the fears of a trade war with China, WTI crude took a dip to it’s lowest close in almost six weeks. In addition, geo-political concerns in the Middle East and North Korea seem to have taken a back seat to the talks on Chinese tariffs and NAFTA. Like the DOW, WTI has been very volatile this week. WTI seems to have a bit more momentum to push back towards $60, but there are still a lot of long positions on crude that would need to unwind. Also, a cooling of the economy coupled with a week dollar will put the crude trade in an interesting position now the China is trying to push crude purchases using the Yuan. If demand erodes and the dollar tanks, it will be interesting to see how crude reacts.

Retail prices on gasoline have stabilized for now. Summer pricing for gasoline is now baked in to our cost. So now we should see retail move more based on crude. Diesel is done with winter blending so pricing will be most affected based on demand going into planting season whenever this cold weather ends.

Propane futures hit an excellent entry point and most suppliers entered positions for next winter. As I’ve stated before, so far we are seeing contract prices for next heating season very close to this season’s prices. Please make sure to check your tank if you are on will-call delivery service with us. This cold weather has caused a late season demand that most people were not prepared for. Summer fill and next season’s contracts will be out in a couple of months. More info to come.

As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to give us a call.

Best regards,

Jon Crawford – Pres.
Crawford Oil and Propane

Good morning,

I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy Easter weekend. I know the weather is colder but I hope family time is fun and enjoyable.

As far as the markets go, WTI crude has settled down. The geopolitical issues have relaxed and WTI closed below $65/barrel this week. Whew!… I hope that we have peaked on crude pricing going into the spring. With the close of Q1, we will see if there is some profit taking on the WTI trade starting in April. Crude inventories did increase this last week. And although refinery maintenance has been minimal keep utilization high, crude production ticked up another 100k barrels/day last week. Right now the U.S. has Russia production levels in their sites. We might be able to surpass Russia by the end of the year which could put the OPEC deals in jeopardy.

In local news, gasoline prices have peaked going into the Easter weekend. Diesel prices have remained somewhat flat. With the change in RVP to summer on gasoline, I don’t expect to see prices come down on gasoline until WTI drops in price.

Propane prices have been steady due to the cold weather. I am expecting to see good demand yet through mid-April. Hopefully we will see some more price relief on propane going into May. More info on summer fills and next year’s heating contracts will be coming out in few months.

As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to give us a call.

Best regards,

Jon Crawford – Pres.

Good morning,

I was out of the office for a week and it’s amazing how volatile the crude market is right now. Two weeks ago we were just about to break back down below $60/barrel on WTI. Two weeks later we are sitting above $65/barrel! In fact, the last three trading sessions were the largest increases on WTI in trading since November of 2017. Most of this was driven by a surprise drawdown in crude inventory here in the U.S. as well as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Right now Saudi Arabia is demanding that Iran be curbed further from nuclear development or else they will develop a nuke. The Crown Prince is meeting with Trump to decide how to proceed with Iran. Some are thinking that the tensions could lead to sanctions on Iran and diminish Iran’s output causing world levels of crude inventory to go into deficit, riding the back of Venezuela’s significant decline. However, I do not believe that Iran’s customers would follow through with sanctions, considering that they like the current deal with Iran. Since Iran was agreed upon to open its doors for crude sales, China, India, and Europe are now buying more crude from Iran than ever before. With Iran’s steep discounts and trying to gain market share if possible, I do not see these countries following a lead by the U.S. in calling for sanctions. This is the largest geopolitical development since the middle of the Syria conflict when Russia and the U.S. got involved. Although I think this is significant news, I do not think there is enough “news” to push crude much higher. The inventory projections from both the EIA and IAA change every week. I agree with the thought that WTI crude will continue to trade in the $60-65/barrel range. However, my call of a “calm spring” for planting season is now a bit shaken. I am now urging some to cover costs in spring just a bit to be safe. And the last bit to remember is that we are coming to the end of Q1 and if crude prices hold, some traders might “ring the register” on a nice start of the year bump in profit and move money elsewhere. That would not be the first time we see the “selling in March” scenario.

In local retail news, gasoline prices have spike due to the change in RVP for summer. I believe that the retail price of $2.49/gallon will be about the peak for now. Where we go from here will all depend upon crude pricing. Diesel prices are jumping all over due to market volatility and street price volatility unwinding from winter blends. As with gasoline, the current prices will probably hold unless crude can find some legs and break out to the highest close of the year.

Propane has bounced back up off its lows with the increase in crude. We are still hoping to be able to lock in prices for next heating season very close to what we were at this year. Right now there is not much value in future prices until the market can digest this recent uptick in crude prices and the unwinding of winter heating demand. More information to come in the following months.

As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to give us a call.

Best regards,

Jon Crawford – Pres.
Crawford Oil and Propane