Rakesh Shankar Quotations

Refinery utilization still remains very weak, with refineries still lagging in their recovery from an aggressive March maintenance schedule.

Crude inventories remain sturdy, despite today's unexpected drop.

The recent cold snap seems more like a last hurrah for Old Man Winter, and with barely a few weeks left in the winter season, inventories for natural gas remain in near record territory. This will ensure that any price gains for natural gas in the aftermath of today's report will be limited.

The possibility of a warmer than expected summer, along with a spike in crude oil prices and a freak heat wave in Texas that led to a surge in demand for natural gas all helped boost natural gas futures prices to well above $8 this week. Prices look to stay there in the near term, despite the record inventories.

Inventories for this time of the year remain well above average, and in the upper end of the average range for this time of the year.

Inventories for this time of the year remain astoundingly above average.

Inventories are extraordinarily sturdy, and OPEC's commitment, at least in the near term, to not cut production should only serve to reinforce the ample supply of oil in the market.

Gasoline prices are bound to rise further in the near term as the summer driving season kicks in.

For nearly five straight weeks, the EIA stock report has now surprised the market with inventory numbers on the upside. As a result, prices for crude especially will revert to the lower numbers seen in December.

There is a real risk that U.S. refineries will be unable to sufficiently bring back capacity in time for the summer driving season. This will force increased reliance on gasoline imports, and higher prices for consumers.