MARKETWIRE ALERTS

MARKETWIRE ALERTS 

MarketWire Afternoon News for October 2^nd 

Updated at 5:00 PM ET 

HEADLINES:

— Berkshire Hathaway To Buy Occidental’s OxyChem for $9.7B

–Midwest CBOB Basis Slides Across Delivery Points

–CEC: California Diesel Stocks Up 83K Bbl on Week

–CEC: California Gasoline Stocks Slip 37K Bbl Last Week

–DOE Scraps 321 Energy Projects Worth $7.56B

–EIA reports 75Bcf Injection into US NatGas Storage Last Wk

–U.S. Labor Data Unavailable Amid Government Shutdown

–EIA Proposes Revision To Modernize Biofuel Data Collection

NEWS:

Berkshire Hathaway To Buy Occidental’s OxyChem for $9.7B

Berkshire Hathaway will acquire Occidental Petroleum’s chemical business, OxyChem, for $9.7 billion in a transaction expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, according to a company statement release Thursday (10/2).

The all-cash transaction will be subject to customary purchase price adjustments and marks a major divestiture for Occidental, which plans to use most of the proceeds to reduce its debt load.

Proceeds from the sale of the chemical company “will unlock 20+ years of low-cost resource runway” in oil and gas for Occidental, president and CEO Vicki Hollub said.

Occidental said it expects to allocate $6.5 billion of the proceeds towards targeting a principal debt level below $15 billion after its acquisition of CrownRock – a Permian driller it bought in August 2024 for around $12 billion.

Midwest CBOB Basis Slides Across Delivery Points

Chicago CBOB basis extended losses Thursday (10/2), with declines seen across Wolverine, West Shore, and Buckeye delivery points against November RBOB futures.

Wolverine barrels traded at an 11cts discount to November RBOB futures contract , down 5cts from Wednesday, DTN Energy data showed. Chicago CBOB basis for West Shore was assessed at a 12cts discount to November RBOB futures, falling 8.25cts from the prior day. Buckeye barrels were marked at a 6cts discount, weaker by 5cts compared to the prior trading daty, according to the same data.

“I’ve been trying to find a good reason for this big drop, only that we could see is as we get close to the last day for C1, one of the big refiners was trying to sell at the last day of C1 and couldn’t find buyers,” a source familiar with Midwest trading said.

CEC: California Diesel Stocks Up 83K Bbl on Week

California diesel stocks increased slightly in the week ending September 26, with inventories in the state’s northern region showing the largest upward move, the California Energy Commission’s Weekly Fuels Report released Thursday (10/1) showed.

Statewide diesel stocks, including CARB and other grades, climbed by 83,000 bbl to 3.186 million bbl in the reference week and 12% year-over-year.

In Northern California, overall diesel stocks surged by 58,000 bbl to 1.327 million bbl for the week ended September 26 but remained up 11% from the same week the prior year. CARB diesel stocks in the north rose by 137,000 bbl from the prior week to 943,000 bbl, while other diesel inventories climbed by 79,000 bbl to 384,000 bbl.

Southern California diesel stocks were higher by 25,000 bbl to 1.859 million bbl last week, showing a year-on-year gain of 13%. CARB diesel stocks in the region increased by 161,000 bbl to 917,000 bbl during the week, while other diesel dropped by 136,000 bbl to 942 million bbl.

On the production front, diesel output for all of California fell by 68,000 bbl to 1.473 million bbl. Annually, the slide was about 7%.

Southern California diesel production led the declines, sliding by 72,000 bbl to 880,000 bbl week-on-week, and 12% year-on-year.  

CARB diesel output in the south bucked the broader trend, rising by 145,000 bbl for the week to 585,000 bbl. But that gain was offset by other diesel production in the region, which tumbled by 217,000 bbl to 295,000 bbl.

Production in Northern California was virtually flat for both the week and year. Diesel output here rose by a marginal 4,000 bbl both week-on-week and year-on-year to 525,000 bbl.

CARB diesel output in the north, meanwhile, climbed by 61,000 bbl during the week to 536,000 bbl, while that of other diesel fell to a negative 11,000 barrels from the prior week’s 46,000 bbl.

CEC: California Gasoline Stocks Slip 37K Bbl Last Week

California gasoline inventories edged lower in the week ending September 26, with Southern California showing the sharpest shifts in blending components, according to the California Energy Commission’s Weekly Fuels Report released Thursday (10/2).
Statewide gasoline stocks, including CARB, non-California grades, and blending components, dropped by 37,000 bbl to 11.430 million bbl, up 9% from 2024.
In Northern California, gasoline stocks increased by 94,000 bbl to 5.278 million bbl, a 23% rise year over year. CARB gasoline climbed by 294,000 bbl to 3.398 million bbl, while non-California gasoline fell by 147,000 bbl to 137,000 bbl. Blending components eased by 53,000 bbl to 1.743 million bbl.
Southern California gasoline stocks slipped by 131,000 bbl to 6.152 million bbl, nearly flat compared with last year. CARB gasoline fell by 298,000 bbl to 2.383 million bbl, while non-California gasoline climbed by 56,000 bbl to 743,000 bbl. Blending components rose by 111,000 bbl to 3.026 million bbl.
Statewide gasoline production dropped by 307,000 bbl to 5.667 million bbl, down 3% year over year.
Southern California led the decline, with output falling by 356,000 bbl to 3.819 million bbl, a 10% decrease from 2024. CARB gasoline production slipped by 344,000 bbl to 3.287 million bbl, while non-California gasoline dropped by 12,000 bbl to 532,000 bbl.
Northern California production climbed by 49,000 bbl to 1.848 million bbl, up 16% compared with last year. CARB gasoline output fell by 28,000 bbl to 1.633 million bbl, while non-California gasoline rose by 77,000 bbl to 215,000 bbl.

DOE Scraps 321 Energy Projects Worth $7.56B

The U.S. Department of Energy announced Thursday (10/2) it has canceled 321 financial awards for 223 energy projects that it says will save American taxpayers approximately $7.56 billion.

“Following a thorough, individualized financial review, DOE determined that these projects did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs, were not economically viable, and would not provide a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars,” the department said in a news release on its website.

The terminated awards were issued by a range of offices, including the Offices of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Grid Deployment (GDO), Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC), Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) and Fossil Energy (FE), the DOE said.

Recipients of the terminated awards have 30 days to appeal the decision, and some have already begun the process, the DOE said.

EIA reports 75Bcf Injection into US NatGas Storage Last Wk

Energy Information Administration data released midmorning Thursday (10/2) show a 53 billion cubic feet injection into U.S. natural gas storage to 3.561 trillion cubic feet in the week ended September 26.
Natural gas in U.S. storage is 0.6% higher than last year and 5% above the five-year average of 3.39 Tcf.
Regionally, EIA reports the East registered a 25 Bcf injection to 832 Bcf, 1.2% less than a year ago and 2.1% higher than the five-year average.
Natural gas in storage in the Midwest increased 27 Bcf week-on-week to 972 Bcf, a 3.7% deficit compared to the same week a year ago and 0.1% lower than the five-year average.
Mountain region natural gas in storage increased 3 Bcf, down 4.6% year-on-year to 18.5% above the five-year average.
South Central storage fell 4 Bcf to 1186 Bcf, 6.6% more than in the same week last year and 7.7% above the five-year average.

U.S. Labor Data Unavailable Amid Government Shutdown

The weekly report on U.S. jobless claims was not published by the Department of Labor on Thursday (10/2) as a federal government shutdown entered its second day.

Moving forth, a more important Non-Farms Payrolls report for September, originally due on Friday (10/3), is unlikely to be published either based on a notice posted by the department on its website.

“This website is currently not being updated due to the suspension of Federal government services,” the department announced, adding that the last update was on Wednesday (10/1). “Updates to the site will start again when the Federal government resumes operations,” the notice added.

The federal government went into shutdown after the U.S. Congress failed to pass appropriations bills or a continuing resolution to fund government agencies before the start of the new fiscal year on October 1.

EIA Proposes Revision To Modernize Biofuel Data Collection

The U.S. Energy Information Administration has proposed three key changes to its monthly biofuels data collection form, the EIA-819, as part of an effort to modernize its Petroleum Supply data collection.

The proposed revisions to the “Monthly Report of Biofuels, Fuels from Non-Biogenic Wastes, Fuel Oxygenates, Isooctane, and Isooctene” aim to reflect industry evolution and allow the EIA to publish more detailed feedstock consumption data, the agency announced Monday (9/29). The EIA-819 and other numerous weekly, monthly and annual surveys in petroleum supply data collection serve as the primary source of information on the nation’s oil industry that covers refinery operations, inventory levels, imports and inter-regional movements for crude oil, petroleum products and biofuels.

Under the revisions, the EIA proposes renaming the EIA-819 as the “Monthly Report of Fuels from Non-Biogenic Waste and Biofuels”

This change is intended to enable the data collection to adapt to new and non-traditional industry technologies and feedstocks now being used to produce fuels that supplement traditional petroleum products.

The agency also plans to revise the disclosure language in the instructions to align the treatment of EIA-819 data with all other Petroleum Supply Reporting System surveys.

This would allow the EIA to treat biofuel feedstock consumption data the same as all other petroleum supply feedstock data.

It is also in response to repeated industry interest in obtaining more granular, aggregate data on feedstock consumption for both biodiesel and renewable diesel plants, which the current rules limit.

Finally, the EIA plans to eliminate Part 10 of Form EIA-819, which collects data on Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE) and Ethyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (ETBE) production.

Respondents have not reported data in part 10a since the form’s inception, and the data from part 10b has been excluded from the Petroleum Supply Monthly balances since 2019, as the EIA has determined its collection has limited use.

Comments to the proposal must be received by the Office of Management and Budget by November 28, 2025.