Freezing Commodities
Virtually every sector of agriculture, energy, and many financial markets were impacted or even demolished by an arctic blast that ran through the southwest. Temperatures throughout the region were as much as 35 degrees below average for several days.
Fuels: The cold snap in Houston, our “capital of energy,” wreaked havoc on natural gas and crude production. Freezing pipelines and ground transit came screeching to a halt and hampered transportation of those fuels. Demand for refined products, such as gasoline, propane, diesel, and heating oil surged just as availability declined. Prices were chased higher as emergency needs spurred panic buying. Heating oil for March delivery traded at $1.83 per gallon on midday Friday, up about 3 ¢ cents from last week.