From what I'm hearing it will probably be Wendnesday before we know the damage offshore. Looks to be a wait and see game for the energy complex for a few days.
Just like the 1906 earthquake. It took days before people realized the city was destroyed. This will cause tens of billions of damage, at a minimum. This hurricane is only half over. And we have no idea how much damage it has already done.
Ted Falgout, port director, port of Fourchon -- a key oil and gas hub 60 miles south of New Orleans on the Gulf of Mexico. The focus: How will the storm impact oil/gas prices and infrastructure? Here is what he told us: At the end of the day, our port will make up 16 to 18 percent of the nation's oil supply, which is extremely significant and dead center of where the storm will hit. The storm will impact oil and gas infrastructure, not just short term but long term as well. The impact of the storm -- the Gulf is shut down; all of the area of the storm is shut down; a half billion dollars a day of oil and gas is unavailable. If there is serious infrastructure damage, the price of oil could easily get to $100 a barrel within a week. I testified last week in front of Congress. Our energy system is in serious trouble.
nor does ANYONE know what the UNDERWATER damage is on the piplines One of the big reasons Ivan cause oil to jump $10 was because of UNDERWATER mudslides... Those very piplines were out for some 9 months and have only recenly come back online! Too early to tell... I think oil at $68.65 is a relative 'bargin' compared to when the real picture shapes up.
1.) The eyewall broke-down before it hit land, thus decreasing the power of the hurricane. 2.) Katrina turned Northeast overnight. Thank God for New Orleans sake!
I believe that the marketplace is already focusing on a release from the SPR. Remember, the government loaned or "exchanged" some 5 million barrels of crude oil from the stock pile last year following Hurricane Ivan. 633,000 barrels of DAILY crude oil production was halted because of Katrina. A release from the SPR would do a lot to alleviate an initial shock to the markets. The markets smell this coming . . .
How nice QMV5 is behaving. Already we see over 30K tracts traded in formal channels using a 10 minute bar chart. Couldn't ask for a better instrument this morning. You can set up a short btw $68.40-$68.65 and trade it out at the new low to be set this afternoon. Don't bid or ask 90% of the time--not that kind of party.imo
It's my understanding that any damage in pipe infrastructure or LOOP will slow down / inhibit imports of crude oil to US. And btw, US is not consuming all those imports, just stockpiling most of them, which is why both SPR and commercial crude stocks are at multi-year highs, DOUBLE the 5yr average. In any case, wouldn't such pipe/LOOP damage be BEARISH for oil price outside the US (maybe not NYMEX, but e.g. Brent), as all this supply will then be available for someone else in the world market ? I would understand if refined products go higher in the US, especially if the natural disaster hits refineries.