Nitro, QM will only open at 4pm, CL down over a dollar so far. The trading sessions for NYMEX Energy products listed on NYMEX ACCESS will commence at 9:00am Chicago time on Sunday, September 25th and continue through to the end of the regular overnight sessions for these products. The trading session for both NYMEX e-miNY products listed on the CME GLOBEX trading system will commence at 4:00pm Chicago time on Sunday, September 25th and continue through to the end of the regular overnight sessions for these products.
Oil Drops as Texas Refining Center Escapes Damage From Rita Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell to its lowest in almost two weeks in London and dropped in New York after the U.S. refining center near Houston escaped a direct hit from Hurricane Rita, easing concern of a shock to strained fuel supplies. Saudi Arabia's oil minister, Ali al-Naimi, today said he was ``relieved'' after only three U.S. refineries reported damage when Rita came ashore yesterday in Louisiana, near the Texas border. The storm was downgraded to a tropical depression late yesterday. At least two of the eight Houston-area plants that account for 12 percent of U.S. refining capacity may resume production this week. ``The panic is over,'' said Rob Laughlin, a senior broker at Man Financial, a unit of the world's largest hedge-fund company, in London. ``The U.S. oil-products market should start balancing out in coming days, allowing crude to easily come down through $60 a barrel.'' Brent crude for November settlement fell 95 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $61.49 a barrel on London's International Petroleum Exchange, the lowest since Sept. 13. November crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped as much as $1.19, or 1.9 percent, to $63, the lowest since Sept. 16, as trading began at 10:00 a.m. Both exchanges opened for special Sunday sessions because of Rita. Crude futures in New York have declined 11 percent since touching a record $70.85 a barrel on Aug. 30, the day after Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana. That storm became the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history, costing insurers as much as $60 billion. Rita Claims Rita, in contrast, may lead to claims of up to $6 billion, according to Eqecat Inc., a storm modeler. Katrina struck land before the Labor Day weekend, the end of the peak season for gasoline demand. Refiners now are preparing to meet heating-fuel demand in the fourth quarter, while replenishing gasoline supplies. Al-Naimi, in Johannesburg for the World Petroleum Congress, said none of Saudi Arabia's customers in the Gulf of Mexico was affected by Hurricane Rita. The kingdom is the world's largest oil exporter. At least 15 refineries in Texas and Louisiana, accounting for about 24 percent of U.S. capacity, shut as Rita approached. Valero Energy Corp. said its Houston and Texas City plants may restore processing within seven days. Another 5 percent of the nation's refining capacity remains closed from Katrina, with four plants scheduled to resume output in November or December. Capacity Cut ``The oil market took some relief that Rita didn't come out to be as bad as expected,'' said Anette Einarsen, an oil analyst at Nordea Bank AB in Oslo. ``There are still some concerns that with damage in Port Arthur, we might be looking at another 5 percent of U.S. refining capacity being out'' for several weeks, in addition to the 5 percent knocked out by Katrina. Valero said it had ``significant'' damage to two cooling towers and a flare stack at its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, a spokeswoman said yesterday. It will take two to four weeks to repair the refinery, she said. Motiva Enterprises LLC's refinery in Port Arthur was also damaged by wind, the company said. Motiva didn't say when it would resume operations. Marathon Oil Corp. said its Texas City refinery had ``minimal'' damage, had electrical power available and was asking the plant's employees to return to work today. The average price of gasoline at the pump in the U.S. surged to a record $3.057 a gallon on Sept. 2, the week that Hurricane Katrina struck, according to the AAA motorists' group. Prices have dropped since as fuel production recovered, putting the average at $2.748 a gallon on Sept. 22, down 10 percent from the all-time high. Wholesale future prices on Nymex have tumbled 29 percent to $2.0856 a gallon by the end of last week, from a record $2.92 a gallon at the end of August. `Capacity Tight' ``Refinery capacity is extremely tight after the hurricane season,'' Eivald Roren, president of the World Petroleum Council, said today at the Petroleum Congress meeting in Johannesburg. Of the London trading session, Man's Laughlin said: ``People may regret having opened this early because there's been nothing to do. He said that about 360 people were logged on to the IPE's trading system at 9:30 a.m. London time, compared with about 2,000 on a normal trading day. The entire 1.5 million barrels of oil a day that the U.S. pumps in the Gulf of Mexico was shut down as of yesterday because of Rita, according to the Minerals Management Service. That's equivalent to about 30 percent of the nation's total output. For natural gas 75 percent of the region's production was halted. The Gulf usually accounts for a quarter of the gas the country extracts.
I'm not sure when it "opens"... this is riduclose though. I am already long oil... so glad it has only droped a dollar or so. Thanks Babak for that link. You saved my blood pressure. I'm guessing that the 3rd largest hurrican on record passing slowly through the center of the GOM rig field is going to cause at least some damage to the pipelines and rigs. Ivan was slower and caused a hell of a lot of damage. So I am quietly confident. But it took weeks for the Ivan damage to be reflected in the price - so I'm not sure how long I will hold my nerve
Why would you put your money in a broker that you don't even know their published availability? THAT'S infuriating!
overdone. the media has focused on houston where millions reside. houston was spared, but 5 major refiners in the st. charles and port arthur area which represent significant amounts of capacity could be down for weeks. there is still no detail on the hundreds of natural gas and oil gulf rigs. crude was down for the week last week going into rita. there should be selling today into tomorrow on momentum, but i am looking for a mother of a short squeeze this week as the rig and pipeline damage from the gulf flows in. traders will focus on MMS data which could reflect continual rig inactivity and shorts may cover into wednesday's DOE #'s. i expect a huge draw in unleaded and nat gas. also, as the driving season ends, the heating season begins. weather is cooling, and nat gas / heating oil will draw in speculators on any fluctuations in temperature. the winter heating season could be catastrophic as people cannot shut demand on heat as they do with driving. on top of the fact that we still got 2 months left in the hurricane season. finally, earnings around the corner as well.. oil firms will report record earnings and could guide higher for fy06. the only thing that will crush oil is recession.