US oil and gas rig count declined for the third consecutive week, falling to 575 rigs for the week ending May 16, a decline of two rigs vs. a week ago. Rigs were added in Appalachia (+1) and All Other (+1), while the Permian (-3) and Gulf of Mexico (-1) both lost rigs.
Analyst Insights
Analyst Insights are unique perspectives provided by RBN analysts about energy markets developments. The Insights may cover a wide range of information, such as industry trends, fundamentals, competitive landscape, or other market rumblings. These Insights are designed to be bite-size but punchy analysis so that readers can stay abreast of the most important market changes.
By Martin King - Friday, 5/16/2025 (1:15 pm)
For the week of May 16, Baker Hughes reported that the Western Canadian gas-directed rig count rose one to 47 (blue line and text in left hand chart below), 10 less than one year ago and remained within the five-year range.
By Lisa Shidler - Thursday, 5/15/2025 (2:30 pm)
Tallgrass Energy has ambitions to build a greenfield natural gas pipeline from the Permian Basin to the Rockies Express Pipeline, the company said this week.
By Liz Dicken - Wednesday, 5/14/2025 (2:30 pm)
Report Highlight: TradeView Report
The Brent-WTI spread (July-versus-July contracts) narrowed once again last week, constricting to $3.33/bbl (far right of red line on chart below) - the tightest the spread has been since mid-January (excluding days of Brent expiration when price swings are commonly seen).
By Christine Groenewold - Wednesday, 5/14/2025 (1:30 pm)
Report Highlight: U.S. Propane Billboard
The EIA reported that total U.S. propane/propylene inventories had a build of 2.2 MMbbl for the week ended May 9. That was more than industry expectations for an increase of 1.7 MMbbl and the average build for the week of 1.9 MMbbl. Total U.S.
By Martin King - Wednesday, 5/14/2025 (1:30 pm)
Report Highlight: Canadian Natgas Billboard
Gas storage in the Western Canadian province of Alberta, the region in Canada with the greatest amount of storage capacity, reached 387 Bcf as of May 13 (blue circle and text in chart below).
By Liz Dicken - Wednesday, 5/14/2025 (1:30 pm)
Report Highlight: Crude Voyager
Crude oil exports from the U.S. Gulf Coast declined once again last week.
By Lisa Shidler - Tuesday, 5/13/2025 (12:00 pm)
It was a challenging week for U.S. LNG feedgas demand, which slipped nearly 1 Bcf/d last week, driven by maintenance and outages.
By Christine Groenewold - Tuesday, 5/13/2025 (10:00 am)
Report Highlight: Chart Toppers
Monthly Gulf Coast gasoline prices for May 2025 have risen to 102% of diesel prices, up from 97% in April—a five-percentage-point month-over-month gain. This marks the highest gasoline-to-diesel price ratio since April 2024, indicating a notable strengthening in gasoline relative to diesel.
By Kristen Holmquist - Monday, 5/12/2025 (4:30 pm)
Report Highlight: NGL Voyager
Today, the U.S. and China announced that they are reducing tariff rates on imports. The U.S. dropped the rate on imports of Chinese goods from 145% to 30%. China also dropped its tariff on U.S. imports from 125% to 10%.
By Liz Dicken - Monday, 5/12/2025 (2:15 pm)
NRG Energy will acquire a portfolio of natural gas generation facilities and a virtual power plant (VPP) platform from LS Power Equity Advisors to help it meet expected increases in power demand, the companies announced May 12.
By Jeremy Meier - Friday, 5/09/2025 (3:15 pm)
US oil and gas rig count declined to 578 for the week ending May 9, a decline of six vs a week ago according to Baker Hughes. The Gulf of Mexico (-2), Permian (-2), Niobrara (-1) and All Other (-1) all posted declines, while no basins reported gains.
By Martin King - Friday, 5/09/2025 (1:30 pm)
For the week of May 9, Baker Hughes reported that the Western Canadian gas-directed rig count was unchanged at 46 (blue line and text in left hand chart below), 10 less than one year ago and remained within the five-year range.
By Jason Lindquist - Friday, 5/09/2025 (9:30 am)
Report Highlight: Hydrogen Billboard
A decarbonization project by steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs that would have heavily relied on hydrogen will be “substantially altered,” CEO Lourenco Goncalves said Thursday, who cited the changing energy priorities under the Trump administration.
By John Abeln - Thursday, 5/08/2025 (3:00 pm)
Report Highlight: NATGAS Appalachia
The Northeast saw Res/Comm demand continue its decline over the week ended May 6, but Power demand picked up as the market continues to transition from heating season to cooling season. Power demand averaged 7 Bcf/d last week and was higher than Res/Comm demand each day.
By Martin King - Thursday, 5/08/2025 (1:45 pm)
Re-exports of Canadian heavy crude oil are estimated to have been 114 Mb/d in April (rightmost stacked columns in chart below), 25 Mb/d stronger than March and 82 Mb/d less than a year ago based on tanker data compiled by Bloomberg.
By Martin King - Wednesday, 5/07/2025 (3:00 pm)
After the delivery of a cool down cargo from the LNG tanker Maran Gas Roxana (picture below) and additional equipment testing, LNG Canada is set to begin first production of LNG in June according to a report posted by Reuters on May 5.
By Christine Groenewold - Wednesday, 5/07/2025 (1:30 pm)
Report Highlight: U.S. Propane Billboard
The EIA reported that total U.S. propane/propylene inventories had a build of 970 Mbbl for the week ended May 2. That was less than industry expectations for an increase of 1.8 MMbbl and the average build for the week of 1.8 MMbbl. Total U.S.
By Martin King - Wednesday, 5/07/2025 (8:45 am)
Report Highlight: Canadian Natgas Billboard
Western Canada’s natural gas production has kicked off the spring on a strong note, posting a record high for April at 19.06 Bcf/d (blue column inside red dashed rectangle in chart below).
By Liz Dicken - Tuesday, 5/06/2025 (3:15 pm)
Report Highlight: Crude Voyager
Crude oil exports from the U.S. Gulf Coast to the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region plummeted 64% week-over-week to 700 Mb/d, the third-lowest weekly volume for the region yet this year.
