WTI $44.66 +$1.20, Brent $55.91 +$2.40, Diff $11.25 +$1.28, NG $2.92 +7c

Oil price

It was all down to one word, by withdrawing 'patient' from its communique, the Fed, despite it being expected, saw the dollar fall 3% which more than offset poor inventory stats. They showed a build of 9.6m barrels to 458.5m which is apparently a high since 1930. At Cushing the rise was 2.9m barrels to 54.4m barrels but since records have only been kept there since 2004 the record is measly.

There is a lot of discussion around what will happen if and when the tanks are full and whilst the situation is possible I suspect it is being overdone. Adding stocks at Cushing at 2/3m barrels a week starting from here would indeed fill the tanks to capacity (71m) by May, but given it is no longer locked in and there is capacity elsewhere I think the risk is being overplayed. Current domestic production according to the EIA is still 9.4m b/d which will fall in due course and imports are running a bit high at the moment as well. Finally, as oft mentioned here the refinery maintenance season started early due to the strike and is at its peak now, expect a pick up in demand once runs start to pick up in April ahead of the driving season, there I've mentioned it for the first time this year…

Nothing to add on the UK budget yesterday, those changes are good without being earth shattering and the tax allowance scheme for early spend should encourage the industry.

Lamprell

What can only be described as a cracking set of figures from Lamprell this morning as 2014 smashed the whisper and beat every target in the book. This is truly a landmark for Lamprell in every way, significant progress has been made in profits, the backlog and order book which also reveals a huge rise in the contract win rate, add to that a much stronger financial position and exemplary safety record and they do indeed tick all the boxes. Behind all this is the new strategy which encompasses a better commercial performance including a much better focus on biddable projects and savings on procurement and factory efficiency, aided by some very smart new kit.

The numbers speak for themselves with profits more than doubled, EBITDA doubled, margins up from 7.1% to 12.6% and the order book up to $1.2bn. 9…

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