Storage Concerns Spill Over Into US Mid-Distillate Market

摘要

The primary legacy of the receding winter could weigh heavily on US jet fuel markets heading into spring. Concerns are growing about tight storage capacity for diesel in the US Northeast as mild winter temperatures and low prices for immediate delivery encourage storage of products for sale at a later date. At New York Harbor - the pricing point for the Nymex ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) contract - utilization of storage tanks is close to 80%, the figure that experts generally recognize as maximum operational capacity for practical purposes. Logistics monitoring firm Genscape says that given the recent growth rate in inventories, “available capacity could be filled in less than two months if low Nymex ULSD spot prices continue to support storage economics.” Stocks of distillate fuel oil - mostly diesel and heating oil - currently total 60.2 million barrels in the Padd 1 East Coast region, more than double where they stood at the same time last year (JFI Nov.2’15).