Heating Oil

• Prompt-month heating oil futures decreased 0.22% for the week ending Friday 2/8, as prices fell $0.004 per gallon.
• On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude futures for delivery in March closed at $52.72 per barrel on Friday, 2/8, up 0.25% for the day, and down 4.60% for the week.
• Crude oil prices decreased last week and continued to fall through Monday, trading around $52.50 a barrel. The Baker Hughes oil rig count rose by 7 to 854 last week, indicating increased production in the U.S. and encouraging a more bearish sentiment. Global economic concerns continue to weigh on prices as trade talks between China and the U.S. have yet to yield a solution and political turmoil in Venezuela creates market uncertainty. Despite these factors, West Texas Intermediate crude was still up 16% on the year after a 19% jump last month, its biggest ever for January. Investors will look for news coming out of the latest round of trade talks, which began on Monday in Beijing, for further indicators on whether the economic disputes between the world’s two largest consumers of crude will see any resolution.

 

Natural Gas

• Prompt-month natural gas futures decreased $0.151 for the week ending Friday, 2/8, to settle at $2.583/Dth.
• Overall supply decreased 1.4 Bcf from the previous week. Total demand decreased by 18.0 Bcf.
• Natural gas exports in November 2018 were 336,466 million cubic feet, compared with 288.354 million cubic feet in November 2017. This is a 16.69% increase.
• Net withdrawals from storage totaled 237 Bcf, compared with the 5 year average net withdrawals of 150 Bcf and last year’s net withdrawals of 116 Bcf during the same week.
• Working gas stocks total 1,960 Bcf, coming in 415 Bcf less than the five-year average and 135 Bcf lower than last year at this time.

 

Electricity

• Average peak prices in NYC decreased last week, moving down $63.73 to $28.58 per MWh. Peak prices hit a high of $40.00 between 6-7 PM last Tuesday, 2/5, in NYC; Average peak prices in PSE&G also decreased, falling $41.48 to average $24.11 per MWh, and topping out at $32.87 on Monday, 2/4, between 7-8 AM.
• Around-the-clock prices for the balance of 2019 decreased $0.29 per MWh for NYC and decreased $0.20 per MWh in PSE&G. Calendar 2020 prices in NYC increased $0.10 per MWh, and PSEG prices increased $0.05 per MWh.

 

Weather

Last Week:

This Week:

• Temperatures averaged 9.21°F above historical figures this past week (ending 2/8), and came in even with forecasted values. Highs for the week are expected to average around 43°F with lows averaging 32°F. Temperatures are forecasted to be 2.29°F warmer than seasonal averages, and 5.86°F below last week’s average.
• Temperatures are expected to drop below last week’s highs but remain slightly above seasonal averages. Snow is expected on Tuesday morning while the weekend will likely bring some light rain. Short term forecasts still show below-average temperatures in the majority of the country with the Southeast experiencing above-average temperatures. Longer term forecast models are predicting below-average temperatures in the majority of the country with some above-average temperatures in the Northeast.