March 23rd 2020
YOUR WEEKLY JOLT
This email likely finds you WFH (everyone’s newest acronym: working from home). It also likely finds you wrestling with the anxiety and uncertainty that faces our nation and the world. You’ve seen the tactical emails—you know Energo is considered an essential business, and that we will continue to support our customers, as we have for over 20 years. We are only able to do this because of the remarkable men and women whom we are lucky enough to call coworkers, friends, and family.
Sometimes the things that seem to divide us, bring us even closer together. With that, we dedicate this week’s Jolt to our incredibly brave and dedicated employees, and to everyone else out there.
Stay safe and take deep breaths.
Heating Oil
- Prompt-month heating oil futures decreased 11.23% for the week ending Friday, 3/20, as prices fell $0.1275 per gallon.
- On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude futures for delivery in April closed at $22.32 per barrel on Friday, 3/20, down 10.84% for the day, and down 42.47% for the week.
Why So Crude? Crude oil prices plummeted again last week but were mixed on Monday, trading around $22.50 a barrel. The oil market was propped up after the Federal Reserve announced a huge wave of initiatives designed to support the American economy, providing an unprecedented range of credit for homes, small businesses, and major companies. These new programs, taken together, will provide up to $300 billion in new financing. Despite these measures, uncertainty remains regarding how long the benefits will last given that the U.S. unemployment rate could hit 30% in the coming months. That would be even worse than during the Great Depression. Many experts believe that oil will continue to suffer as estimates show supply could outpace demand by more than 10 million barrels next quarter with storage infrastructure being insufficient to support the current production level. The Baker Hughes oil rig count fell last week, going from 683 to 664 and indicating decreasing domestic production.
Natural Gas
- Prompt-month natural gas futures decreased $0.265 for the week ending Friday, 3/20, to settle at $1.604/Dth.
- Overall supply increased by 0.9 Bcf from the previous week. Total demand increased by 2.3 Bcf.
- Natural gas exports in December 2019 were 481,006 million cubic feet, compared with 363,458 million cubic feet in December 2018. This is a 32.34% increase.
- Net withdrawals from storage totaled 9 Bcf, compared with the 5 year average net withdrawal of 63 Bcf and last year’s net withdrawal of 91 Bcf during the same week.
- Working gas stocks total 2,034 Bcf, coming in 281 Bcf more than the five-year average and 878 Bcf more than last year at this time.
Record Heights. We are slated to become the largest oil and the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter in just a few years. The federal numbers are out, and U.S. oil and natural gas exports boomed once again last year to record heights. –
Forbes
Electricity
- Average peak prices in NYC decreased last week, falling $0.29 to $18.50 per MWh.
- Average peak prices in Central NY’s Zone C increased, rising $2.03 to $16.35 per MWh.
- Average peak prices in New Jersey’s PSE&G increased, rising $0.05 to $17.91 per MWh.
- Average peak prices in New Jersey’s ACE increased, rising $2.05 to $19.77 per MWh.
- Average peak prices in Pennsylvania’s PPL increased, rising $2.41 to $19.45 per MWh.
- Average peak prices in Maryland’s BGE increased, rising $1.88 to $24.45 per MWh.
- Calendar 2020 prices in NYC decreased $1.63 per MWh, and Zone C prices decreased $1.03 per MWh.
- Calendar 2020 prices in PSE&G decreased $1.08 per MWh, and ACE prices decreased $0.96 per MWh.
- Calendar 2020 prices in PPL decreased $0.97 per MWh.
Sign Of Hope. People are turning Christmas lights on as ‘a sign of hope’ amid coronavirus pandemic. –
Daily News
Technology
Working From Home (WFH). New to working from home? The Verge put together a guide on how to work from home productively and comfortably. – The Verge