In this week’s Market Movers Americas, presented by Jennifer Pedrick:
• Hurricane Lee reaches Category 3 strength
• Refinery outages expected to increase heading into fall
• California regulators to approve $4 million in grants
• US gas resources evaluation to be discussed
This week, Hurricane Lee has strengthened to a Category 5 storm, so US East Coast markets are on alert for potential impacts to supply and demand. If the storm makes landfall as a Category 5, it could cause widespread power outages and damage other energy infrastructure, depending on its path and strength.
Oil markets anticipate an uptick in refinery outages heading into the fall after the Labor Day weekend marked an end to seasonal lows. Demand could outstrip production by 1.8 million b/d as the cuts could tighten supply even further. Runs remain high, though, especially following Saudi Arabia and Russia’s recent decision to keep output cuts in place until the end of the year. Gasoline prices have already been supported by planned maintenance and outages at Gulf Coast refineries, and summer-grade product for export has declined in availability.
The California Energy Commission is expected to approve $4 million in grant awards at its Sept. 13 meeting. Twenty-seven entities will each receive funding for projects such as long-duration energy storage systems, end-of-life lithium-ion battery recycling, electric vehicle fast chargers and more.
Finally, the American Gas Association will host the Potential Gas Committee for a hybrid media event Sept. 14 to examine the evolving state of America’s natural gas resources and reserves. Experts from the Potential Gas Committee will discuss a comprehensive evaluation of technically recoverable resources of gas in the United States.
I’m Jennifer Pedrick. Thanks for kicking off your Monday with S&P Global Commodity Insights.