Pump Price Uptick Poised to Continue

Pump Price Uptick Poised to Continue
Rigzone panelists offer their recommendations on what to watch in the oil market this week.

Expanding upon the theme of upward momentum that they discussed late last week, Rigzone’s panel of oil market-watchers anticipate increases in areas other than the West Texas Intermediate futures contract. Read on for their insights on where more growth is likely in the oil market.

Andrew Goldstein, President, Atlas Commodities LLC: I would look for the price of gasoline to continue to rise, both the RBOB (Reformulated Gasoline Blendstock) contract and the price at the pump. As auto travel increased last week, the U.S. average rose more than 8 cents per gallon from the previous week. With the oversupply the past few months, U.S. average is still 86 cents below the same time last year.

Tom McNulty, Houston-based Principal and Energy Practice leader with Valuescope, Inc.: We have seen more than $40 billion in write-offs across the upstream segment of the energy complex in the last few months, but not nearly enough among the oilfield services companies. Lots of equipment is lying stacked right now. Several players in the legal community here in Houston have expressed the notion that we will see 250 bankruptcies in the next 18 months. But privately I know attorneys who think it will be much higher when you count more of the smaller private companies, many of which are sitting tucked away in private capital portfolios.

Mark Le Dain, vice president of strategy with the oil and gas data firm Validere: We will see another large storage build, but similar to this past week it will be driven by imports as the Saudi deliveries that were set in motion long ago continue to arrive. The reports are actually fairly robust after accounting for these imports.

To contact the author, email mveazey@rigzone.com.



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