MARKETWIRE ALERTS

MARKETWIRE ALERTS 

MarketWire Afternoon News for December 18th

Updated at 5:00 PM ET 

HEADLINES:

— Energy Transfer Suspends Lake Charles LNG Project

— Diamondback Reports 24-Hour Flaring at Upton County Plant

— CEC: California Gasoline Inventories Up 628K Bbl on Week

— Analysis: US West Coast EVs Grow, but Gas Prices Stay High

— CEC: California Diesel Stocks Up 73,000 Bbl on Week

— Nov US CPI Dips 0.3% on Yr; Gasoline Index Dn

NEWS:

Energy Transfer Suspends Lake Charles LNG Project

Energy Transfer announced Thursday (12/18) that it was suspending its Lake Charles LNG project and also upsizing its $5.6 billion Desert Southwest Expansion Project pipeline.

The Lake Charles LNG project had a planned capacity of 16.45 million metric tons per annum that would have delivered roughly 2.33 billion cubic feet per day.

The Desert Southwest pipeline will have its diameter increased to 48 inches from a prior 42 inches, enabling its gas delivery capacity to reach up to 2.3 billion cubic feet per day, Energy Transfer said in a statement.

Diamondback Reports 24-Hour Flaring at Upton County Plant

Diamondback E&P LLC reported a 24-hour emissions event at its Neff Battery, Upton County, facility, according to a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

The incident involved the facility’s high-pressure flare system burning excess natural gas that could not be delivered through normal sales channels. The event was discovered on Wednesday (12/17) at 7:31 a.m. and was scheduled to last until Thursday (12/18) at the same time.

“The gas company is having unspecified issues, resulting in high level pressure (HLP), but gas that cannot be forced into the line is being flared,” the filing stated.

The 24-hour flaring event released approximately 6,392 pounds of various air contaminants, including 3,220 pounds of carbon monoxide, 1,610 pounds of nitrogen oxides, 759 pounds of butane, and 751 pounds of propane. Smaller quantities of benzene (12.9 pounds), sulfur dioxide (39.4 pounds), and hydrogen sulfide (0.419 pounds) were also emitted.

“Diamondback is maintaining all pollution control equipment in good working order,” according to the company.

However, the incident status remains open as Texas regulators review the event.

CEC: California Gasoline Inventories Up 628K Bbl on Week

California gasoline inventories climbed in the week ending December 12, driven mainly by increases in Southern California, according to the California Energy Commission’s Weekly Fuels Report released Thursday (12/18).
Statewide gasoline stocks, including CARB reformulated, non-California, and blending components, climbed by 628,000 bbl from the prior to stand at 11.46 million bbl. Year-on-year, stocks were up 11%.

Southern California gasoline inventories rose by 98,000 bbl to 6.098 million bbl, up 5% from the same week the year prior.

Week-over-week, Southern CARB gasoline fell by 49,000 bbl to 2.74 million bbl. Southern non-California gasoline fell by 38,000 bbl to 540,000 bbl last week, while Southern blending components increased by 185,000 bbl to 2.818 million bbl in the same period.

In Northern California, gasoline stocks rose by 530,000 bbl to 5.362 million bbl and were 18% higher than the same period of previous year.

Northern CARB gasoline jumped by 609,000 bbl to 3.019 million bbl on a weekly basis, while Northern non-California gasoline dropped by 100,000 bbl to 282,000 bbl. Northern blending components climbed by 21,000 bbl to 2.061 million bbl.

On the production side, statewide gasoline output rose by 106,000 bbl to 6.28 million bbl in the week ended December 12, and was up 0.6% above the same week of last year.
Southern California gasoline production decreased by 58,000 bbl to 4.165 million bbl in the profiled week and was up 4.4% annually.
Southern CARB gasoline production rose by 243,000 bbl to 3.466 million bbl last week, while Southern non-California gasoline production fell by 301,000 bbl to 699,000 bbl in the same period.
Northern California gasoline production climbed by 164,000 bbl to 2.115 million bbl week-over-week, but was down 6% from the same week of last year. 

Northern CARB production advanced by 15,000 bbl to 1.897 million bbl last week, with Northern non-California production rising by 149,000 to 218,000 bbl in the reference week. 

Analysis: US West Coast EVs Grow, but Gas Prices Stay High

Even as electric vehicles become more common across the U.S. West Coast roads, gasoline prices in the region remain high, frustrating drivers who expected relief as demand for fuel begins to level off.

New end-of-year data suggest gasoline consumption in parts of the U.S. West Coast is flattening. But the overall trend shows pump prices continuing to outpace their growth in much of the country, raising questions about whether the shift toward electric transportation is meaningfully reshaping the U.S. fuels market.

U.S. West Coast gasoline averaged $3.851 gallon for the week ended December 15, above the $2.895 gallon national average price for retail regular gasoline, Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed. While that represented a 10.5cts weekly decline for U.S. West Coast gasoline, it was still 6.6cts, or 2%, higher than levels recorded in the same period a year earlier.

In comparison, East Coast gasoline averaged $2.842 gallon for the week to December 15, down 5cts on the week, and 14.9cts, or 5%, lower on the year.

The disparity in the U.S.  West Coast versus other regional gasoline pricing comes as California maintains its dominance of national sales of electric vehicles, or EV, classified by the state as Zero-Emission Vehicles (ZEV).

According to industry data compiled by Veloz and attributed to the California Governor’s Office, Californians purchased 124,755 new ZEVs in the third quarter of this year, accounting for 29.1% of all vehicles sold in the state. That means that nearly 3 out of every 10 new vehicles registered in California are EV.

Meanwhile, national ZEV sales of 438,487 units represent 10.5% of all vehicles sold in the country in the same quarter, according to Cox Automobile data, suggesting that only around one in 10 cars sold across the 50 U.S. states is EV.

EV sales strong in 2025

Approximately 22% of light duty vehicles sold in the first quarter of 2025 were hybrid, battery electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles, up from roughly 18% in the same period last year, based on estimates from Wards Intelligence cited by the EIA. Growth has been driven largely by hybrid EV, while battery electric and plug in hybrid sales have remained relatively flat.

Despite that momentum, EV still make up a small share of the total vehicle fleet. In 2023, electric vehicles accounted for less than 2% of all registered light duty vehicles in the United States, EIA data showed. This is because new vehicle sales represent a fraction of the cars already on the road, changes in fuel demand tend to unfold gradually rather than all at once.

On the West Coast, those gradual demand shifts are colliding with a fuel system that has little margin for error. Several refinery closures in recent years have reduced regional capacity, leaving the market more vulnerable to outages and unplanned disruptions.

Even modest supply issues can have an outsized impact on prices, said a market participant, noting that “the lack of redundancy has become one of the biggest drivers of elevated prices.”

California Fuel Specs Add Complexity

California’s unique fuel specifications further complicate the picture. The state requires a cleaner burning gasoline blend that cannot be easily replaced with supplies from other regions, limiting flexibility when disruptions occur. As a result, prices are high even when demand softens.

At the same time, California is investing heavily in accelerating the transition away from gasoline. The California Energy Commission, the lead state agency overseeing investments in electric vehicle charging infrastructure, is deploying up to $100 million annually through its Clean Transportation Program to support cleaner transportation and alternative fuels.

The state has set goals of placing 1.5 million zero emission vehicles on California roads by 2025 and 5 million by 2030, reaching 100% zero-emission passenger vehicle sales by 2035, according to the CEC.

Those investments are reshaping long term demand expectations, but they also introduce new challenges for businesses caught in the middle. Gas station owners face tighter margins as fuel volumes soften, while refiners must balance declining demand against rising per gallon costs tied to compliance, maintenance and fewer operating assets. Thus, consumers are left paying higher fuel prices even as the region moves toward a less gasoline-dependent future.

Looking ahead to 2026, market participants say the U.S. West Coast fuel market is unlikely to see a sudden tipping point. Instead, the transition is expected to remain volatile, with EVs gradually chipping away at demand while supply constraints continue to dominate pricing dynamics.

Until redundancy improves or regional fuel production stabilizes, the benefits of lower gasoline demand may remain elusive for U.S. West Coast drivers even as the EV era steadily advances.

CEC: California Diesel Stocks Up 73,000 Bbl on Week

California diesel inventories rose in the week ending December 12, driven by a net increase in Northern California stocks, according to the California Energy Commission’s Weekly Fuels Report released Thursday (12/18).

Statewide diesel stocks, including CARB and other grades, climbed by 73,000 bbl to total 2.741 million bbl, while remaining down by 11% year over year.

Northern California saw the largest movement for the week, with diesel inventories rising by 97,000 bbl to 1.576 million bbl. Northern diesel stocks were up by 27% from last year.

In the breakdown of diesel stocks by category, Northern CARB diesel stocks rose by 72,000 bbl to 1.148 million bbl, while Northern other diesel climbed by 25,000 bbl to 428,000 bbl.

Southern California diesel inventories fell by 24,000 bbl to 1.165 million bbl and were down by 37% from last year.

In the product category, Southern CARB diesel rose by 54,000 bbl to 579,000 bbl. Southern other diesel slipped by 78,000 bbl to 664,000 bbl.

On the production front, statewide diesel production tumbled by 128,000 bbl to 1.485 million bbl and was down by 1.4% from last year.

Southern California diesel production slid by 64,000 bbl to 979,000 bbl. Year-on-year, output in the south was down by 4.8%.

Southern CARB diesel output climbed by 118,000 bbl to 657,000 bbl, while production of Southern other diesel declined by 172,000 bbl to 332,000 bbl.

Northern California diesel production fell by 64,000 bbl to 506,000 bbl, while remaining up 5% from the previous year. Northern CARB diesel output plunged by 383,000 bbl to 151,000 bbl, while Northern other diesel surged by 299,000 bbl to 355,000 bbl.

Analysis: Crude Stocks Dip on Refining Spike, Products Up

U.S. crude oil stocks continued to fall and fuel inventories expanded further as refiners ramped up operations last week, encouraged by relatively high margins. Net crude oil input into refineries rose to a four-month high of 16.99 million bpd in the week ended December 12, U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed Wednesday (12/17).

U.S. refiners are maximizing run rates as processing of diesel, particularly, remains profitable despite easing since a rally in the fuel peaked in mid-November. The 3:2:1 diesel crack spread versus WTI currently stands at above $21 bbl, compared to around $16 bbl this time last year. The gasoline crack has, meanwhile, turned negative to around $11 bbl from $12 bbl a year ago, in line with the annual 16% drop in gasoline futures.

U.S. refinery utilization inched up to 94.8% of operable capacity last week, a 3.3% year-on-year increase. Over the past four weeks, utilization averaged 93.9%, compared to 92% in the same period in 2024. Consequently, crude processing rates last week were up 377,000 bpd year-on-year, and up 173,000 bpd on the four-week average. Notably, this came despite a 166,000 bpd year-on-year loss in operable refining capacity.

Amid stagnant demand and cooling exports, the refining push also led to a faster rebuilding pace in fuel inventories than last year. The reported 4.8 million bbl build in gasoline inventories last week brought nationwide stocks to 225.6 million bbl, the highest since August, and up 1.6% year-on-year. On the Gulf Coast, the country’s main refining hub, gasoline stocks are now at their highest since late July.

Distillate fuel oil inventories, which have been lagging year-ago levels for most of 2025, also continued to expand, growing 1.7 million bbl to 118.5 million bbl, and are now 0.3% higher than in the same reference week of last year.

Product exports, which ran hot in autumn, fell back in line with year-ago levels, and demand continued to trail. On the four-week average, gasoline supplied, a proxy for demand, averaged 8.65 million bpd, down 1.1% year-on-year, and distillate fuel oil supplied clocked in at 3.68 million bpd, down 2.2% year-on-year.

Nov US CPI Dips 0.3% on Yr; Gasoline Index Dn

SECAUCUS, NJ (DTN) — The U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) dipped 0.3% year-on-year in November, bringing the annual rate of inflation for the all-items index to 2.7%, according to data released this morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

It was the BLS’s first report since August of an annual inflation rate below 3%. The November figure was also beneath market expectations for a year-on-year inflation of 3.1%.

The 2.7% annual inflation rate is closely watched by markets since it is well above the 2% annual target of the U.S. Federal Reserve. The annual CPI is one of the indicators the central bank uses for determining interest rates, which it cut three times this year, most recently on December 10, to boost a flagging jobs market despite inflation running higher than its target.

The November CPI report issued by the BLS compares with September, since the agency did not issue an October report due to a federal government shutdown that month.

The gasoline index within the November CPI fell to 3% from September’s 4.1%, said the BLS. That aligned with the drop in U.S. pump prices for gasoline, averaging at $2.896 gallon versus the month-ago level of $3.077.

The all-items less food and energy index, the so-called core inflation, was at 2.6% year-on-year in November, versus 3% recorded in September.

Price increases for November were driven, among others, by natural gas and electricity, tobacco and smoking products, meats, poultry, fish, eggs, nonalcoholic beverages, used cars and trucks, and medical care services.

In contrast, prices fell for airline fares, dairy and related products, and apparel, as well as for lodging away from home and recreation.

Responding to the data, the December NYMEX WTI futures contract rose $0.45 to $56.26 bbl. The U.S. dollar index decreased by 0.08 points to 98.32 against a basket of foreign currencies.