The Eclipse Special: Chemical terminal storage demand & Crude prices
The total eclipse has come and gone. Joni Mitchell schooled us on clouds, many years ago, telling us we still don’t know clouds at all: But now they only block the sun, They rain and they snow on everyone, So many things I would have done, But clouds got in my way. But then again, it’s all about perspective. We have looked at clouds from both sides now, and what still remains is THE WONDER OF IT ALL that makes us feel so renewed. Speaking of renewed, The Tank Tiger is showcasing renewable storage all over North America. Take a look at one of our newest listings in Richmond, VA and the brownfield transloading opportunity, seeking a JV partner, we have teed up in sunny Tampa, FL. Every new sunrise brings new opportunity. So be like two fried eggs, and keep your sunny side up.
If you’re an upstream producer right now, you’re definitely not crying about clouds on the horizon. Oil prices have been going up, up, up, up,up! (To live in this town, you must be tough tough tough tough tough tough tough). Brent crude settled Friday at $91.17 a barrel, with WTI at $86.91 a barrel – seeing a weekly gain of 4%. Crude oil futures have now hit a high not seen in over 6 months. The price runup was fueled by geopolitical tensions centered around a potential conflict between Iran and Israel which would certainly escalate matters significantly in the region, while also calling Iranian oil supply into question. Meanwhile, Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian refineries have continued, which certainly will curtail product supplies. With OPEC+ quotas being adhered to amidst low inventories, the screws supposedly tightening on Russia sanctions, and strong economic growth means it is clear that the oil bulls are now running amuck. If you play the long game, higher prices will eventually put the brakes on amuck – but what remains unclear is just where the incremental supply will want to come from. Amuck Amuck Amuck.
The Tank Tiger has been peppered this spring with inquiries for more and more chemical storage. Consistent with that, chemical railcar loadings were up 4.5% year to date vs. last year and have been on the rise for 7 of the last 13 weeks. The ISM Manufacturing PMI report indicated the chemical industry was one of the nine manufacturing industries that registered growth. Chemical manufacturers increased inventories in March. That is consistent with what our sharp ears heard while sipping cocktails at the IPC AFPM last month. Overall, The Tank Tiger kicked off the month of April with storage inquiries for gasoline, avgas, Crude oil, Glycerin, Distillate, Asphalt, ULSD, Corn Oil, Aromatics, and Biofeedstock. Get in the game and jump into the mytanktiger.com platform. It’s free to use and full of information that can help your business. Ask us about a demonstration today.
