Crude’s Equal and Opposite Reaction

Crude traders continue to remain bearish in 2Q23 despite some positive indicators that would otherwise dictate a bullish market. Fundamentals are providing support but are yielding to news cycles and the rumor mill. Expectations remain in high hope for crude as we turn into the latter half of the year, but traders remain convincingly bearish. […]

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Fundamentals in the back seat (for now)

WTI = purple, Brent = Yellow Looking at global happenings Late last week, crude oil prices hit a 15-month low as news spread of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, instilling fears throughout Wall Street of more banking troubles to come in the near future. At the low on Friday, Brent and WTI crude were off […]

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Impacts of an OPEC+ Production Cut

OPEC+ delegates are meeting in person in Vienna on Wednesday, and it is widely expected that they will announce production cuts.  Oil prices have experienced a substantial decline over the past few months, and the cartel views this as a way to prop up oil prices.  Despite the announcement grabbing headlines, analysts and economists are […]

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OPEC+ Aims for Higher Prices

During the most recent OPEC+ meeting in August, the organization announced a plan to cut production by 100,000 barrels per day. At the time, Brent crude oil prices were around $95 per barrel and steadily declining. In the days following the announcement, prices went back up to around $100 per barrel. Since then, prices have […]

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Extreme Energy Volatility is Back

Over the past week, WTI crude oil has traded in a range of $11/barrel, Heating Oil $0.59/gallon, and European natural gas €118/MWh. This is extreme energy volatility, even from what we’ve seen earlier this year, as traders begin to position themselves ahead of the OPEC+ decision, the perceived weakness in Chinese oil demand, and less […]

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The Oil Market

Negotiations between the European Union, United States, and Iran are coming down to the wire to place Iran back in the Nuclear Deal which would dramatically boost its oil production and potentially lower prices affecting the entire oil market. The Biden Administration, on behalf of the European Union, completed its final review of the proposal […]

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World Oil Watch 2022

There is an endless supply of breaking news events that are impacting the oil market daily. China, India, OPEC, inflation, South America, and of course, the Russia/Ukraine war are all big item headlines that have gotten us to a market where both WTI and Brent have climbed above $114/BBL. Let’s explore some of these headlines […]

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What is NOPEC?

Last week, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee voted 17-4 to pass the No Oil Producing or Exporting Cartels (NOPEC) bill, which if passed in Congress and signed by the President would allow the U.S. Attorney General to sue OPEC and/or its members for antitrust collusion.  The bill is designed to protect U.S. consumers from volatile […]

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Will There Be a Relief in Diesel Prices?

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) just released that the U.S. national average diesel price at the pump is $5.623/gallon. Is there any relief in sight? Let’s digest some data and assess. The Department of Energy’s (DOE) petroleum report revealed last week that U.S. distillate inventories are at their lowest level in 30 years; 104.9 million […]

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