Kuppy
Founder & CIO of Praetorian Capital, Author of Kuppy’s Korner
Oil refiners such as Marathon Petroleum and Valero stand to benefit as renewed Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries look bullish for crack spreads. A drone reportedly hit Kirishi's KINEF refinery again just as it was preparing to restart after months of repairs. KINEF is one of Russia's largest refineries, processing about 20 million tons of oil a year, roughly 6.6% of the country's refining capacity. x.com
Refining's poor economics for Marathon Petroleum and Valero trace partly to China and the Arabian Gulf adding a lot of non-economic capacity, driven mostly by ego and a wish to be seen moving up-market. That capacity almost universally capped crack spreads and earned terrible returns. @Stecyk adds that greenfield plants are usually poor investments and no greenfield US refinery has been built since Garyville in 1976, since expanding existing facilities is far more economical. x.com
Shell's stronger refining profits and larger buyback support the view that its breakout holds. Q3 adjusted earnings reached $10.8 billion versus $9.9 billion expected, as refining margins hit a record $42 a barrel; the three-month buyback rises from $3 billion to $5 billion. Those margins will not last forever. x.com
Oil refiners have become the bottleneck, with refining, not crude, now setting fuel prices. Per @JeffSnider_EDU, crude inventories are only 6% below normal, but gasoline stocks just fell 5 million barrels in a week and diesel is 12% below average despite soft freight and US gasoline demand down 2.2%. Refineries running at 95.8% still can't keep up, pushing the crack spread to record highs. x.com
Refiners such as Valero and Marathon Petroleum may be nearing a top, because the cure for high prices is always high prices. The stocks have made monster moves as crack spreads blow out and foreign buyers fight for distillate capacity. x.com
Refiners Marathon Petroleum, Valero and Phillips 66 are back at the top of S&P 500 momentum rankings as earnings surge. The three earned a combined $12.6 billion in Q2, the most since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, with Marathon and Valero scoring 100 on momentum and Phillips 66 scoring 99. x.com
US energy stocks remain the trade because the Iran war keeps hitting oil supply; it is not a dip-buying chance in tech. Iran struck more Persian Gulf energy sites, including the Fujairah bypass route, erasing Monday's relief rally and lifting Brent back above $104. Hormuz is still contested, tanker insurance stays high, and the IEA's record 400 million-barrel release did not stop the climb. Chevron, Marathon Petroleum, Valero, Occidental and Phillips 66 held green as stock futures fell. x.com … Show more
Money is rotating from big refiners and integrated oil companies into oil drilling and servicing firms. The move could be in its early innings, and the recent drilling gains alongside refiner losses are working in that direction. x.com
Oil refiners look too late to chase because they are over-earning, and margins will likely compress down the line. Refiners ran as Chinese utilization fell about 40% and 40% of Russian capacity went offline because of the war, pushing product-versus-crude margins to all-time highs of $80-100. Oil services names such as SLB look better placed to benefit. x.com
US energy stocks such as Valero are resuming their uptrend after a brief ceasefire correction because the US is draining reserves at an incredibly fast pace to keep oil and gasoline flowing and stop prices from spiraling. x.com
Refiners such as Valero and PBF look past their best, because higher oil prices are no longer necessarily bullish for them. Per a client, refiners are running at 95% and still can't build finished-product inventories. These look like as-good-as-it-gets earnings, and prices look ahead to demand deconstruction: high prices force alternatives and faster cost-cutting. Capacity scarcity still supports valuations, as with AI stocks, but price controls always backfire. x.com x.com x.com
Diesel stocks are the play, and US refiners Valero, PBF Energy and HF Sinclair work until an expected US export ban arrives. This answers @bubbleboi, who sees diesel or jet fuel as the best way to play the move and wonders whether it ties to the bombing of Saudi refiners. With the ban coming, the bigger focus should be European refiners OMV and Repsol, while Calumet offers the most torque through aviation fuels. x.com
