Our MarketClub Members Bailed Before Crude Oil Went Negative

If the world wasn't strange enough right now, the crude oil market just took it up a notch. On Monday, April 20, 2020, the May contract for WTI Crude Oil fell to negative $37/barrel, bizarre territory after a record breaking price drop.

Futures traders are rightfully concerned about decreased demand, overproduction, and limited storage space. MarketClub members were thankfully sitting on the sidelines (or were riding the move down) after getting an exit signal for this liquid energy fund.

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MarketClub members have the Chart Analysis Score at their fingertips. If and when the USO trend reverses, members will see the score increase and will receive Trade Triangle signals as the ETF establishes new short term, intermediate, and long-term bullish trends.

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How Saudi Arabia and OPEC are Manipulating Oil Prices

About eighteen months ago the international price of WTI Crude Oil, at the close of June 2014, was $105.93 per barrel. Flash forward to today; the price of WTI Crude Oil was just holding above $38.00 per barrel, a drastic fall of more than 65% since June 2014. I will point out several reasons behind this sharp, sudden, and what now seems to be prolonged slump.

The Big Push

Despite a combination of factors triggering the fall in prices, the biggest push came from the U.S. Shale producers. From 2010 to 2014, oil production in the U.S. increased from 5,482,000 bpd to 8,663,000 (a 58% increase), making the U.S. the third largest oil-producing country in the world. The next big push came from Iraq whose production increased from 2,358,000 bpd in 2010 to 3,111,000 bpd in 2014 (a 32% increase), mostly resulting from the revival of its post war oil industry.

The country-wide financial crunch, and the need for the government to increasingly export more to pay foreign companies for their production contracts and continue the fight against militants in the country took production levels to the full of its current capacity. In addition; global demand remained flat, growing at just 1.1% and even declining for some regions during 2014. Demand for oil in the U.S. grew just 0.6% against production growth of 16% during 2014.

Europe registered extremely slow growth in demand, and Asia was plagued by a slowdown in China which registered the lowest growth in its demand for oil in the last five years. Consequently, a global surplus was created courtesy of excess supply and lack of demand, with the U.S. and Iraq contributing to it the most.

The Response

In response to the falling prices, OPEC members met in the November of 2014, in Vienna, to discuss the strategy forward. Advocated by Saudi Arabia, the most influential member of the cartel, along with support from other GCC countries in the OPEC, the cartel reluctantly agreed to maintain its current production levels. This sent WTI Crude Oil and Brent Oil prices below $70, much to the annoyance of Russia (non-OPEC), Nigeria and Venezuela, who desperately needed oil close to $90 to meet their then economic goals.

For Saudi Arabia, the strategy was to leverage their low cost of production advantage in the market and send prices falling beyond such levels so that high cost competitors (U.S. Shale producers are the highest cost producers in the market) are driven out and the market defines a higher equilibrium price from the resulting correction. The GCC region, with a combined $2.5 trillion in exchange reserves, braced itself for lower prices, even to the levels of $20per barrel.

The Knockout Punch

By the end of September 2014, according to data from Baker Hughes, U.S. Shale rigs registered their highest number in as many years at 1,931. However, they also registered their very first decline to 1,917 at the end of November 2014, following OPEC’s first meeting after price falls and its decision to maintain production levels. By June 2015, in time for the next OPEC meeting, U.S. Shale rigs had already declined to just 875 by the end of May; a 54% decline.

The Saudi Arabia strategy was spot on; a classic real-life example of predatory price tactics being used by a market leader, showing its dominant power in the form of deep foreign-exchange pockets and the low costs of production. Furthermore, on the week ending on the date of the most recent OPEC meeting held on December 4th, 2015, the U.S. rig count was down even more to only 737; a 62% decline. Despite increased pressure from the likes of Venezuela, the GCC lobby was able to ensure that production levels were maintained for the foreseeable future.

Now What?

Moving forward; the U.S. production will decline by 600,000 bpd, according to a forecast by the International Energy Agency. Furthermore, news from Iraq is that its production will also decline in 2016 as the battle with militants gets more expensive and foreign companies like British Petroleum have already cut operational budgets for next year, hinting production slowdowns. A few companies in the Kurdish region have even shut down all production, owing to outstanding dues on their contracts with the government.

Hence, for the coming year, global oil supply is very much likely to be curtailed. However, Iran’s recent disclosure of ambitions to double its output once sanctions are lifted next year, and call for $30 billion in investment in its oil and gas industry, is very much likely to spoil any case for a significant price rebound.

The same also led Saudi Arabia and its GCC partners to turn down any requests from other less-economically strong members of OPEC to cut production, in their December 2015, meeting. Under the current scenarios members like Venezuela, Algeria and Nigeria, given their dependence on oil revenues to run their economies, cannot afford to cut their own production but, as members of the cartel, can plea to cut its production share to make room for price improvements, which they can benefit from i.e. forego its market share.

It’s Not Over Until I’ve Won

With news coming from Iran, and the successful delivery of a knockout punch to a six-year shale boom in the U.S., Saudi Arabia feared it would lose share to Iran if it cut its own production. Oil prices will be influenced increasingly by the political scuffles between Saudi Arabia and its allies and Iran. The deadlock and increased uncertainty over Saudi Arabia and Iran’s ties have sent prices plunging further. The Global Hedge Fund industry is increasing its short position for the short-term, which stood at 154 million barrels on November 17th, 2015, when prices hit $40 per barrel; all of this indicating a prolonged bear market for oil.

One important factor that needs to be discussed is the $1+ trillions of junk bonds holding up the shale and other marginal producers. As you know, that has been teetering and looked like a crash not long ago. The pressure is still there. As the shale becomes more impaired, the probability of a high yield market crash looks very high. If that market crashes, what happens to oil?  Wouldn’t there be feedback effects between the oil and the crashing junk market, with a final sudden shutdown of marginal production? Could this be the catalyst for a quick reversal of oil price?

The strategic interests, primarily of the U.S. and Saudi Arabia; the Saudis have strategically decided to go all in to maintain their market share by maximizing oil production, even though the effect on prices is to drive them down even further. In the near term, they have substantial reserves to cover any budget shortfalls due to low prices. More importantly, in the intermediate term, they want to force marginal producers out of business and damage Iran’s hopes of reaping a windfall due to the lifting of sanctions. This is something they have in common with the strategic interests of the U.S. which also include damaging the capabilities of Russia and ISIS. It’s certainly complicated sorting out the projected knock-on effects, but no doubt they are there and very important.    

I’ll Show You How Great I Am

Moreover, despite a more than 50% decline in its oil revenues, the International Monetary Fund has maintained Saudi Arabia’s economy to grow at 3.5% for 2015, buoyed by increasing government spending and oil production. According to data by Deutsche Bank and IMF; in order to balance its fiscal books, Saudi Arabia needs an oil price of$105. But the petroleum sector only accounts for 45% of its GDP, and as of June 2015, according to the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, the country had combined foreign reserves of $650 billion. The only challenge for Saudi Arabia is to introduce slight taxes to balance its fiscal books. As for the balance of payments deficit; the country has asserted its will to depend on its reserves for the foreseeable future.

Conclusion

The above are some of the advantages which only Saudi Arabia and a couple of other GCC members in the OPEC enjoy, which will help them sustain their strategy even beyond 2016 if required. But I believe it won’t take that long. International pressure from other OPEC members, and even the global oil corporations’ lobby will push leaders on both sides to negotiate a deal to streamline prices.

With the U.S. players more or less out by the end of 2016, the OPEC will be in more control of price fluctuations and, therefore, in light of any deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia (both OPEC members) and even Russia (non-OPEC), will alter global supply for prices to rebound, thus controlling prices again.

What we see now in oil price manipulation is just the mid-way point. Lots of opportunity in oil and oil related companies will slowly start to present themselves over the next year which I will share my trades and long term investment pays with subscribers of my newsletter at The Gold & Oil Guy.com

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Chris Vermeulen

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WTI Crude Oil on the Move $112 Next Stop

The energy sector has surged during the last two months which can be seen by looking at the XLE Energy Select Sector Fund. If crude oil continues to climb to the $112 level, XLE will likely continue to rally for another few days or possibly week as energy stocks are considered a leveraged way to play energy price movements.

Another way to look at this info is through the USO United States Oil Fund. This tracks much closer to the price of oil. The only issue is that many ETFs that “try to track” an underlying commodity is in how the funds are built. They own multiple contracts further into the future which does not exactly provide us with the short term news/event driven price movements in the current front month contract as they should.

What does this mumbo jumbo mean? Well, it means funds like USO and the highly respected UNG, and VIX ETFs… (just joking about the highly respected part), fail to track the underlying commodity or index very well when it comes to short term price movements. This means, you can nail the timing of a trade, and the commodity or index will move in your favor, yet your fund loses money, or goes nowhere...

Let’s Focus on the Technicals Now….

 

WTI crude oil has formed a bullish ascending triangle pattern from March to May of this year. The breakout to the upside is bullish and should be traded that way until the chart says otherwise. This breakout and first pullback must hold, or I will consider it a failed breakout. So if price dips and closes 2 days below the breakout level, it will be a major negative for oil in my opinion.

The range of the ascending triangle provides us with a measured move to the upside which is $112. Typically the first pullback after a breakout can be bought. The first short term target to scalp some gains would be $109, and at that point moving your stop to breakeven is a wise decision. Trading is all about managing capital and risk, if you don’t, then the market will take advantage of your lack in discipline.

Looking further back on the chart, you can see the double bottom formation also known as a “W” formation. Once the high of the “W” formation is broken the trend should be considered neural or up.

Also note that the RSI (relative strength) has been trending higher for some time now. This means money is rotating into this commodity. This is in line with my interview this week with Kerry Lutz and my recent article talking about the next bull market in commodities and the TSX (Toronto Stock Exchange).

 

WTI Crude Oil Trading Conclusion:

 

In short, oil has some extra risk around it. The recent move has been partly fueled by news overseas. So at any time oil could get a lift or take a hit by news that hits the wires. I tent to trade news related events with much less capital than I normally do because of this risk.

Happy Trading,
Chris Vermeulen

WANT MORE TRADE IDEAS? GET THEM HERE: THE GOLD & OIL GUY.COM

 

Citigroup Picks Winners and Losers Among U.S. Refiners

It may not be the gospel but we should pay attention as Citigroup picks winners and losers among U.S. refiners. Here is Citigroup's take on oil refiners. The firm expects to see a bottoming of earnings in Q4 for most names, but companies overweight the Midcontinent and/or Midwest could experience a difficult earnings environment through Q1 2014.

The diverging earnings performance will result in positive price appreciation for some refiners - such as Valero (VLO) and Tesoro (TSO), which earn upgrades to Buy - but underperformance for others, such as on Alon USA (ALDW), CVR Refining (CVRR), Holly Frontier (HFC) and PBF Energy (PBF), which will remain pressured by narrowing price differences between WTI and Brent crude.

TSO will benefit next year from a tighter gasoline market in California, and VLO will benefit from wider heavy light differentials in H2 2014 as increased Canadian heavy crude flows to the U.S. Gulf coast, Citi says.

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Platts: ICE Brent futures lose previous quarter's premium to NYMEX WTI, Dubai

After a strong performance at the beginning of the year, the forward Brent complex lost some of its strength to WTI and Dubai crude futures in the second quarter of 2013 on a combination of European demand woes and stronger East and West crudes.

The narrowing of the spread between the ICE Brent futures and NYMEX light sweet contract, known as Brent/WTI spread, was a notable change in the quarter.

Toward the end of June, the ICE Brent front-month futures contract narrowed its premium to front-month NYMEX crude to below $6/barrel, more than halving from the beginning of the quarter. (A trend which of course has continued, with the spread tumbling below $5/b and even $4/b in just the first three days of July.)


Here's a short video in which John Carter shows how he trades oil and how he identifies targets when to take profit.

The Spike in Oil Prices on QE3 Expectations Should be a Warning to the Fed

Crude Oil prices for WTI were just $78 dollars in July, a month later they are $93.40 with supplies well above their five year average range, China decelerating at a rate not seen since the financial crisis, and US gasoline demand down 4.2 percent year on year and distillates down 2.8 percent.

So what the heck is going on in the Oil Markets? Well, just look at the S&P for your answer: Capital has flowed into assets based upon the expectation that Bernanke and his cohorts at the Federal Reserve will print some more money out of thin air in the form of some monetary easing initiative falling under the heading of QE3.....See Chart and complete article

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CME Recap Energy Market Report For Tuesday June 26th

Check out our latest Video, Market Analysis and Forecast for the Dollar, Crude Oil, Gold, Silver, and the SP500

August crude oil prices registered an inside day trading range that was slightly higher on the session. The market spent most of the session within a tight trading range, despite fractional improvement in outside market sentiment.

Early support for the market came from gains in Brent crude oil and from expectations that US weekly crude stocks drew down last week. Prices took a negative turn in the wake of US economic data that showed Consumer Confidence falling by more than expected in June.

Some traders pointed to gains in Brent crude oil and concerns over a workers' strike in Norway that could tighten up near term supply as a force providing a late morning turnaround. As a result, the price differential between Brent and WTI crude oil increased by nearly $2.00 on the session.

Expectations for this week's EIA crude oil report are for a draw in the range of 750,000 to 1.0 million barrels.

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CME: Simplest Way to Describe Oil Market....Uncertainty

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The simplest way to describe the oil markets as well as the broader risk asset markets is in one word "uncertainty". Uncertainty is coming from many different directions all at the same time. June is the month of events and thus the month of above normal uncertainty. In the last five trading sessions oil prices have reversed direction each day demonstrating the lack of conviction by the majority of market participants. Each 30 second news snippet hitting the media airwaves sends the market in different directions as traders and investors try to sort out what is the next issue to emerge from the growing risk pyramid.

Today the first of the many June events will become clearer as OPEC decides what their forward production levels will be. There has been a group of OPEC members or the hawks...Iran & Venezuela in particular who are calling for a cut in production to bolster prices after about a $25/bbl decline over the last month or so. On the other hand the doves led by Saudi Arabia are looking to actually increase the official production ceiling and were showing no signs of agreeing to a cut ahead of the official meeting. History has told us that the position the Saudi's take heading into the meeting is generally the outcome of the meeting. All signs suggest history will repeat itself today and there will be no cuts in production with the official ceiling staying the same of raised marginally. I am expecting a rollover of the existing agreement.

This seems to be the outcome that the consensus of market participants has been expecting for the last several weeks and if the expectations are met I do not expect any major move in oil prices after the meeting communiqué is issued solely based on the outcome of the OPEC meeting. Oil prices are likely to remain in the $80 to $90/bbl range basis WTI and $95 to $105/bbl trading range basis Brent until the next round of events hit staring on Sunday. The outcome of the OPEC meeting...especially one that is likely to be a status quo meeting is certainly not the most important issue facing all of the risk markets in the short term and certainly not the main price driver for oil or the major risk asset markets.....Read the entire report.

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Crude Oil and Product Markets Over the Past Two Months

On February 29, 2012, EIA released The Availability and Price of Petroleum and Petroleum Products Produced in Countries Other Than Iran, a 60 day recurring report required under Section 1245(d)(4)(A) of Public Law 112-81, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012. The Act requires that, not later than 60 days from enactment and every 60 days thereafter, the "Energy Information Administration, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of State, and the Director of National Intelligence, shall submit to Congress a report on the availability and price of petroleum and petroleum products produced in countries other than Iran in the 60 day period preceding the submission of the report."
EIA estimates that the world oil market has become increasingly tight over the first two months of this year.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, based on Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), and Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME).  Note: Prices represent rolling 5-day averages. 

Oil prices have risen since the beginning of the year and are currently at a high level. Global liquid fuels consumption is at historically high levels. While the economic outlook, especially in Europe, remains uncertain, continued growth is expected. Unusually cold weather in Europe contributed to tighter markets by increasing the demand for heating oil, particularly during February.

With respect to supply, the world has experienced a number of supply interruptions in the last two months, including production drops in South Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and the North Sea. Both the United States and the European Union (EU) have acted to tighten sanctions against Iran, including measures with both immediate and future effective dates.

Finally, spare crude oil production capacity, while estimated to be higher than during the 2003 to 2008 period, is quite modest by historical standards, especially when measured as a percentage of global oil production and considered in the context of current geopolitical uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the situation in Iran.

Crude oil prices have been generally rising over the past two months, particularly in recent weeks. This is reflected in price movements on the most commonly traded oil futures contracts. Comparing the 5 day periods ending December 30, 2011 and February 27, 2012, the price of the front month of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) light sweet crude oil contract (WTI) rose from $99.77 per barrel to $107.66 per barrel. The Brent front month price, which is widely viewed as being more representative of global prices for light sweet crude oil, rose from $108.04 per barrel to $123.56 per barrel over the same period.

Gasoline prices have also generally been rising over the past two months, particularly in recent weeks. Reformulated blendstock for oxygenate blending (RBOB) is often traded instead of finished motor gasoline that already has been blended with ethanol, since oxygenate blending typically takes place at terminals along the distribution chain.

Comparing the 5-day periods ending December 30, 2011 and February 27, 2012, the price of the front month of the NYMEX RBOB contract, which calls for delivery in New York Harbor, rose from $2.68 per gallon to $3.11 per gallon. RBOB prices reflect pricing at the wholesale-level that do not include motor fuel taxes, or costs and profits associated with the distribution and retailing of gasoline. However, increases in RBOB prices are typically reflected in higher pump prices.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, based on Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). 

Notes: Prices represent rolling 5 day averages. Reformulated blendstock for oxygenate blending (RBOB) is often traded instead of finished motor gasoline that already has been blended with ethanol, since oxygenate blending typically takes place at terminals along the distribution chain.

How to Use Money Management Stops Effectively

Run Your Own Profitable Oil Refinery By Hedging 3 ETFs

From guest blogger Richard Bloch.....

Want to profit from high oil refining margins? You can almost run your own oil refinery, hedging your output through three ETFs that track crude oil, heating oil, and gasoline. At a very basic level, refining oil is easy to understand. You buy crude oil and refine it into various products. If you sell those products for more than the cost of the crude oil, you make a profit.

Although there are many nuances to this business - different grades of oil, seasonal demand patterns, and dozens of different refined products each with their own price - there's a simple way to approximate the profit margin for refining oil. It's called the "crack spread," which gets its name from the refining process itself because you "crack" complex crude hydrocarbon molecules into usable products.

There are several versions of this spread. One popular spread is called the 3:2:1 crack spread. Here's how it works. Three barrels of WTI crude oil yield one barrel of heating oil and two barrels of gasoline. But the easy way of calculating it is to divide by three. Assume that one barrel of crude oil (42 gallons) yields one-third of a barrel of heating oil (14 gallons) and two-thirds of a barrel of gasoline (28 gallons) as shown here:

Calculating the spread

Here how this 3:2:1 crack spread was priced as of Friday, February 3

WTI Crude oil: $97.84 per barrel

Heating oil: 3.114 per gallon x 14 gallons = $43.59

Gasoline: 2.914 per gallon x 28 gallons = $81.59

Total heating oil and gasoline revenues: $43.59 + $81.59 = $125.18

Less cost of crude oil: $97.84

NET PROFIT = $27.34

Is that a lot? Let's take a look at that spread over the past 18 months.

Yeah, that seems like a lot, but it's certainly not as much as it was in September.

Three ETFs to profit from the crack spread

When the spread is going up, you'd do well to be buying gasoline and heating oil, while simultaneously selling crude oil.

You can do this through trading three ETFs in the 3:2:1 ratio outlined above. These include

• US Heating Oil Fund (UHN)
• US Gasoline Fund (UGA)
• US Oil Fund (USO)

These ETFs hold nearby futures contracts, so if you think the spread is going to go up, you might go long the spread with the following trade:

Long the crack spread

• Buy $10,000 of UHN
• Buy $20,000 of UGA
• Sell $30,000 of USO

I would adjust this position monthly to maintain that 3:2:1 ratio.

If you think the spread is going down instead -- as it did in September last year, you'd benefit from shorting the spread with the opposite trade:

Short the crack spread

• Sell $10,000 of UHN
• Sell $20,000 of UGA
• Buy $30,000 of USO

Riding the crack spread for fun and profit

How would this approach have performed over the past year? Well we can certainly assume that none of us can pick an exact top or bottom. So let's look at the spread chart again and make some assumptions about where going long or short this spread might have made sense based on trends at the time.

On February 1, 2011 you note the spread is rising, so you buy $10,000 of UHN and $20,000 of UGA while shorting $30,000 of USO. You'd treat each month as a separate trade so you can maintain the 3:2:1 ratio.

On October 3, the spread is appears to be declining. Now you short the crack spread by buying crude oil and selling heating oil and gasoline, once again resetting your position each month to stay within the 3:2:1 ratio.

Finally, on January 3, 2012, you switch and go long the spread once again, closing position on February 1.

This table shows the results for each month's trade, the profit of each position, and the net results.

The months highlighted in yellow were trades for being long the spread. The ones in purple are months trading the spread from the short side.

Here's a chart showing the net profit of your positions throughout the year.

No it's not perfect, but when the spread is trending, you can make a fairly decent gain. The profits really rose as the spread switched direction in October.

If you prefer, you might be able to use options for the USO part of your spread. These options are fairly liquid, but there are no options for UHN, and UGA options are too thinly traded to be of much use.

You don't need to be in the oil business to capitalize on the crack spread. Easy? Well no, nothing in the oil market is easy, but this could be a pretty reliable ongoing trade if you follow the trend.

Disclosure:  Richard Bloch has no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

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WTI and Brent Price Spread Narrows

Between October and November, the spot price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil increased $23 per barrel partly on signs that transportation constraints out of the U.S. Midwest, the main market for WTI, are beginning to ease. At the same time, the price of European benchmark Brent crude oil was up much less, only about $7 per barrel. As a result, the WTI-Brent crude oil price difference has narrowed. The WTI-Brent crude oil price difference was smaller earlier in the year. While the WTI-Brent oil price narrowed, gasoline prices continue to track the price of Brent as they have for much of the year. The average price for gasoline moved about 6 cents a gallon from early October through mid November and then fell 13 cents during the last two weeks of November.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, based on Bloomberg.  

Gold’s 4th Wave Consolidation Nears Completion and Breakout