MARKETWIRE ALERTS
Miguel E. Andujar
DTN Refined Fuels Market Reporter
MARKETWIRE ALERTS
MarketWire Afternoon News July 30th:
Updated at 5:00 PM ET
HEADLINES:
-- AAR: Petroleum Carloads Up 11.8% for Week Ended July 25
-- EIA: U.S. NatGas Storage Sees 28 Bcf Weekly Injection
-- Sweeny Refinery Reports Flaring After Compressor Shutdown
-- IATA: Global Air Passenger Demand Falls 1.7% in June
-- Motiva Reports Flaring at Port Arthur's Olefin Unit
-- PBF Q2 Operational Profit Jumps 30-fold on Full Restart
-- Valero's Q2 Refining Volume Drives $4.5B Operating Income
-- Shell Q2 Income Up 128% Y-o-Y on Crude Prices, Trading
NEWS
AAR: Petroleum Carloads Up 11.8% for Week Ended July 25
The Association of American Railroads reported that petroleum and petroleum
product carloads totaled 11,522 during the week ended July 25, up 11.8% from a
year ago.
Table of key AAR data for week ended July 25:
July 18, 2026
Year-To-Date
Cars Y/Y
change (%) Cumulative
Total Carloads 234,100 1.4%
6,578,325
Petroleum and Products 11,522 11.8%
318,684
Total Intermodal Units 293,062 3.5%
8,124,976
Total Traffic 527,162 2.5%
14,703,301
EIA: U.S. NatGas Storage Sees 28 Bcf Weekly Injection
SECAUCUS, NJ (DTN) -- U.S. natural gas storage underwent a 28 billion cubic
feet (Bcf) injection during the week ended July 24 to reach an inventory level
of 3.084 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), the Energy Information Administration
reported Thursday (7/30).
Year-on-year, however, natural gas in U.S. storage was 1.0% lower than the
comparative week of 2025, although it remained 6.4% above the five-year average
of 2.899 Tcf.
Regionally, EIA reported that the East Coast registered a 23 Bcf injection
to 654 Bcf, 0.8% more than a year ago and 3.6% higher than the five-year
average.
Natural gas in storage in the Midwest increased 23 Bcf week-on-week to 789
Bcf, a 3.5% surplus compared to the same week a year ago and 6.6% higher than
the five-year average.
Mountain region natural gas in storage decreased 2 Bcf to 238 Bcf, down 1.7%
year-on-year and 17.2% above the five-year average.
Pacific storage fell 7 Bcf week-on-week to 307 Bcf, 2.0% higher than last
year and 16.3% above the five-year average.
South Central storage fell 9 Bcf to 1096 Bcf, 5.7% less than in the same
week last year and 3.1% above the five-year average.
Sweeny Refinery Reports Flaring After Compressor Shutdown
Chevron Phillips Chemical Company reported flaring at ethylene unit 24 at
its 265,000 bpd Sweeny refinery, according to an initial filing with the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality.
The incident began at 3:00 a.m. CT on Wednesday (7/ 29) and concluded at
5:00 p.m. CT.
"Ethylene unit 24 experienced an unexpected shutdown of the cracked gas
compressor caused by loss of speed indication during an unexpected fire event.
The incident is under investigation," the company said.
Flares 14 and 20 released a combined total of more than 900 pounds of
ethylene, nearly 2,778 pounds of carbon monoxide, over 600 pounds of nitrogen
oxides, and more than 220 pounds of propylene, among other compounds, according
to the filing.
The incident remains open, the filing stated.
IATA: Global Air Passenger Demand Falls 1.7% in June
SECAUCUS, NJ (DTN) -- Global air passenger demand declined 1.7% year on year
in June, capping off a soft second quarter weighed down by Middle East tensions
and weak domestic travel, the International Air Transport Association (IATA)
reported Thursday (7/30).
Total passenger demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPK),
improved slightly from May's 2.2% drop, while capacity fell 1.3%, leaving the
global load factor at 84.2%, IATA said.
North American carriers saw international demand fall 1.0% from a year
earlier as capacity dropped 0.7%, bringing the regional load factor to 86.9%.
Domestic markets continued to face headwinds, with total domestic RPK
falling 3.0% in June. U.S. domestic traffic dropped 1.2%, while China led major
domestic contractions with a 5.2% decline, both pinched by higher fuel costs.
Middle Eastern carriers remained the heaviest drag on overall traffic due to
the ongoing conflict in the region, though their demand decline narrowed
significantly to 13.9% in June compared to April's 46.6% plunge.
IATA Director General Willie Walsh noted that high fuel costs and supply
uncertainties around the Strait of Hormuz continue to burden travelers with
higher fares despite recent oil price declines.
International passenger traffic itself dropped 0.9% year on year in June,
though excluding the Middle East, global travel actually grew 1.1%.
Motiva Reports Flaring at Port Arthur's Olefin Unit
Motiva Enterprises reported a flaring incident at the Light Olefins Unit of
its 654,000 bpd Port Arthur refinery, according to an initial incident report
filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
The emissions event began at 6:53 p.m. on Tuesday (7/28) and ended at 2:26
a.m. on Wednesday (7/30). The flaring was triggered by a process upset in the
facility's Light Olefins Unit triggered the flaring event.
Eleven air contaminants were released, with ethylene accounting for the
largest share at 13,082 pounds, followed by carbon monoxide at nearly 4,983
pounds and nitrogen oxide at 655 pounds. Smaller quantities of benzene,
1,3-butadiene, propylene, and other compounds were also emitted, according to
the filing reported on Wednesday (7/29),
Operations crews worked to stabilize the process unit and route streams to
the flare for destruction, the company said.
PBF Q2 Operational Profit Jumps 30-fold on Full Restart
SECAUCUS, NJ (DTN) -- PBF Energy announced Thursday (7/30) a near 30-fold
jump in second quarter net operational income to $1.272 billion from $43.0
million in the year-ago period.
PBF also reported that:
Net income reached $915.0 million compared with a net loss of $5.4 million in
the second quarter of 2025.Expected throughput in the third quarter is between
900,000 and 960,000 bpd.Renewable diesel production averaged 15,100 bpd in the
second quarter and is expected to average 18,000 to 20,000 bpd in the third
quarter.The Martinez refinery returned to full operational status in May 2026
following repairs from a February 2025 fire.
Valero's Q2 Refining Volume Drives $4.5B Operating Income
SECAUCUS, NJ (DTN) - Valero on Thursday (7/30) reported $4.5 billion in
second quarter 2026 operating income for its refining segment, more than triple
from the prior-year period.
Valero also reported:
The refining segment posted operating income of $1.3 billion in the second
quarter of 2025. Refining throughput volumes averaged 3.0 million bpd in the
second quarter of 2026.The renewable diesel segment reported $717 million in
operating income, with sales volumes averaging 3.8 million gallons per day. In
the second quarter of the prior year, the segment reported an operating loss of
$79 million.The ethanol segment achieved $318 million in operating income on
production volumes averaging 4.7 million gallons per day. This compares to an
operating income of $54 million in the second quarter of 2025.
Shell Q2 Income Up 128% Y-o-Y on Crude Prices, Trading
SECAUCUS, NJ (DTN) -- Shell reported on Thursday (7/30) a 128% year-on-year
surge in adjusted earnings for the second quarter of 2026, driven by higher
realized prices and stronger trading contributions.
Adjusted earnings reached $9.8 billion in the quarter, compared to $6.9 billion
in the prior quarter and $4.3 billion a year ago.Higher realized oil and gas
prices, alongside solid trading performance in LNG and crude, boosted segment
earnings across Upstream and Chemicals and Products.Total oil and gas
production in Upstream averaged 1.82 million boe/d, down slightly from 1.84
million boe/d in Q1 2026 due to maintenance.Integrated Gas total production
dropped 31% quarter-on-quarter to 631 thousand boe/d, primarily reflecting the
impact of the Middle East conflict on Qatari volumes.Refinery utilization
surged to 102% in the second quarter, up from 99% in the prior quarter and 94%
a year ago.
(c) Copyright 2026 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.
