🛢 We Are 'Still' Going Full Speed Into The Wall
Product storage is about to get tighter unless China steps in and lifts the product export ban. If it does, expect a meaningful reversal in crude.
WTI is barely hanging on to $70 for its dear life, but please remember that consumers use petroleum products like gasoline and diesel; they don’t use crude oil. Refineries do, and this is why it was always important for us to pay attention to crack spreads along with crude timespreads.
Note: Please divide it by 3.
The fever in the market today is that crude is oversupplied, but products are undersupplied. How can this be possible?
Well, China’s June crude import data so far is -4.7 million b/d y-o-y, and teapot refineries are operating at 50% utilization. Compared to US refineries operating at 95% and PADD 2 refineries operating over 100%, you can see where the disconnect is.
But here’s the thing. If end-user demand isn’t down and you still have a production shut-in of ~8 million b/d, you are losing barrels in one form or another. Yes, China might not be importing crude, but it is drawing down product inventory. No one has visibility into how much China has in products right now, but it can’t be far from very low levels.
The same could be said for product inventories across the globe. Elevated crack spreads are a sign that despite higher refinery throughput in the coming weeks/months, the world still doesn’t have enough products. You can see this in the price action in the spreads.
đź”— https://www.hfir.com/p/we-are-still-going-full-speed-into
The village of Piddington has voted for independence from the United Kingdom and to become a self governing village in a landslide vote.
91% Voting Leave
This comes after news that over 3,000 illegal migrants are to be dumped in their village.
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🌆 Market News Digest
[Sept 22, 2026 EST]
🔥 Top Stories
• Trump says US-Iran talks were “very productive” — White House/mediators signal momentum on a deal; Hormuz reopening and sanctions relief remain central
• Oil swings on Hormuz diplomacy, then settles lower — Brent/$94.59 WTI after ceasefire/deal hopes offset blockade and tanker-risk headlines
• Trump UNGA speech: hard line on Iran, AI, Greenland — urged isolation of Iran, vowed no global AI controls, signed Greenland security deal
• US stocks end mixed; Nasdaq hits fresh record — chip/AI names led, while banks lagged and rates stayed firm
â›˝ Oil & Energy
• Hormuz remains the key market risk — Iran alternates between reopening talk and threats; U.S.com/Gulf push de-escalation and alternative flow routes
• Aramco, Libya, Iraq headlines support supply-watch — Aramco eyes gas reorg/listings; Libyan shutdown trims output; Iraq exports top 3 mln bpd
📊 Markets & Macro
• Fed speakers stay hawkish-ish — Collins/Barkin ...
PN I know I disappeared for awhile. I’ve been writing a little but not much. I had a death in my family and it hit hard. I’m trying to get moving but having a hard time.
I want you to know my husband works for one of the largest trucking companies in the country driving heavy haul. He delivers feed to all the chickens out here in the pacific nw. Up and down Wa and Or. He will not be participating in the protest 10/1 due to the fact that he is company and this job was hard to find. He feels diesel is going up in a very bad way. That’s the word with the truckers. If things continue the way they are it may be $8-10 a gallon in ten days. They are trying to break us. His company subsides the diesel through the government so they don’t feel the effect except when seeing the pumps. He feels that they will be affected heavily by the end of the month, the company rigs that is. It’s going to get very nasty and with all this stuff in the middle east with both straits, as you already ...