Coquest

Your Daily Energy Report for April 16, 2025

Posted on 2025-04-16

Crude Oil

Crude Oil futures for May settled up $1.14 or 1.859% at $62.47. Oil prices rose on Wednesday, driven by new US sanctions targeting Chinese importers of Iranian crude, which have raised concerns about global supply levels amidst ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran. Additionally, OPEC announced plans for additional production cuts by countries like Iraq and Kazakhstan to offset earlier overproduction. In the US, crude inventories saw a larger-than-expected increase of 0.5 million barrels last week, while gasoline and distillate stocks declined. Despite China's stronger-than-anticipated Q1 economic growth, forecasts for oil demand remain subdued, with the IEA projecting the slowest growth in five years for 2025. Rising trade tensions between the US and China have further clouded the demand outlook, leading banks such as UBS and BNP Paribas to lower their oil price forecasts.
 

Natural Gas

Natural Gas futures for May settled down -$.082 or -2.463% at $3.247. Natural gas prices declined today as traders looked past the upcoming EIA storage data—anticipated to reflect a smaller-than-usual injection—and instead focused on projections for larger inventory increases in the coming weeks. Weather patterns for April 14–20 suggest mild overall demand, with alternating warm systems and short-lived cold fronts reducing the need for both heating and cooling. This transitional "shoulder" period continues to support storage accumulation. On the international front, LNG supply is set to expand by roughly 10 million metric tons over the summer, largely due to additional capacity coming online in North America. Much of this new output is expected to be directed toward Europe, which is ramping up storage efforts to replace diminished pipeline imports.
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