Steady At 59 -- June 23, 2017 -- Gasoline Demand In Northeast US At 6-Year Low

Active rigs:

$42.88	6/23/2017	06/23/2016	06/23/2015	06/23/2014	06/23/2013
Active Rigs	59	30	77	190	189

RBN Energy: global refinery capacity additions and the effect on US refiners.

Wow, it never quits, hyperdrive in Texas. From Oil & Gas Journal, data points:

• Delta production line at La Parte, TX
• builder: Braskem America Inc, Philadelphia, a subsidiary of a Brazilian company, Braskem SA Sao Paulo
• $675 million
• will build North America's largest polypropylene (PP) production line
• will build at Braskem's existing manufacturing site in La Porte, TX (about 26 miles from Houston)
• will add another 450,000 tonnes/year: homopolymers, random copolymers, impact copolymers, and reactor thermoplastic pololefins (neither do I)
• current production: 354,000 tonnes per year
• goal to meet global demand by leveraging access to low-cost sources of feedstock from North Amerian shale production as well as existing support infrastructure already in place
• should see mechanical completion of the PP unit during 1Q20
• once completed: Braskem's total US PP production capacity jumps to 2.02 million tpy from a current output of 1.57 million tpy
• announcement comes on heels of commissioning of another Braskem unit at La Porte, coming on line earlier than planned

Concerning, and unexplained, gasoline demand, from Reuters:

The operator of the biggest U.S. fuel pipeline system said demand to transport gasoline to the country's populous northeast is the weakest in six years, the latest symptom of a global oil market grappling with oversupply.

Summer is typically when gasoline demand peaks in the world's biggest oil consuming country as motorists hit the road for vacation, and keeping their gas tanks full strains the capacity of U.S. refiners and pipelines.

This year, so much fuel is stored in tanks in the Northeast that Colonial Pipeline Co said in a notice to customers that demand from refiners and fuel traders to bring gasoline through its pipeline to the region from refining hubs in the South was the worst in six years.

For the first time since 2011, demand for the pipeline was below capacity for a five-day period starting early next week, Colonial said on Thursday. The news pushed down gasoline prices in the Gulf region, where the pipeline begins.

Benchmark U.S. gasoline prices led the energy complex higher and were up about 2.1 percent shortly after midday, partly boosted by expectations that fewer barrels flowing into the East Coast would alleviate a glut.

Typically, demand exceeds the pipeline's space, forcing refiners and traders to supplement delivery with tanker shipments or imports.