Diesel Price Premium Hits All-Time High Over Gas, Crude Oil

Reduced refining capacity combined with weather and geopolitical intrigue have eroded diesel stockpiles in the United States to noteworthy lows. Between the years of 2017 and 2021, the U.S. averaged 34 days of distillate supply, compared to just 25 days as of October 2022. Accordingly, while the price of gasoline has increased roughly 14% this […]

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Crude Oil Crushed

WTI Crude oil prices topped $93.50/barrel on Monday and now trading at $86.21/barrel at writing. Why the significant drop? Let’s look at the fundamentals and the technical for an explanation. From the fundamental perspective, China re-affirmed its stance this week on its zero-COVID policy strategy that when a few cases are confirmed, a lockdown of […]

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Strategic Petroleum Reserve Release

With oil prices hitting 7-year highs just a month ago, world leaders including U.S. President Joe Biden are considering a strategic release of petroleum reserves as a reprieve to high prices and inflationary pressures. Does this really mean oil prices have topped?

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Delta = Variable

Delta is defined by Merriam-Webster as “an increment of a variable.”  The Delta variant of Covid is (ironically) causing a massive number of variables through global economies.  Oil prices today remain stable as Covid cases push Japan into an extended state of emergency, Asian demand remains weak, New Zealand implements a new lockdown after one […]

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Port Shutdowns Amid Delta Variant Concerns

Today marks the sixth day in a row that the world’s third busiest container port remains partially closed.  China’s Ningbo-Zhoushan container port shut down their Meishan terminal last Wednesday after one of their employees tested positive for COVID-19.  Ningbo authorities stated that the port worker was believed to be fully vaccinated but received an inactivated […]

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CRUDE SLIDES AMID DEMAND AND SUPPLY CONCERNS

China’s economic outlook and the Delta variant tanker were the most recent forces that led to crudes slip to open the month of August. Brent crude at writing was lower by 2.02% at $73.89/bbl while WTI slipped 2.31% and fell to $72.24/bbl. In mid-July OPEC+ met to discuss growing demand and supply increases. After some […]

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China Didn’t Expect to Find This: Drilling

Last Friday China’s National Petroleum Corporation made a significant discovery while drilling in the Tarim Basin located in the Fuman Oilfield area of the Xinjiang Uyger Autonomous region. In their drilling efforts, China uncovered a new 1-billion-ton oil and gas area making it the largest discovery in over 10 years. The Furman Oilfield is one […]

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Renewables versus Fossil Fuels

Over the past year, China has ramped up its energy production and committed to becoming a net-zero emission economy by 2060. While China has led all nations with renewable energy production, at the same time has increased coal production and offset the retirements in coal capacity from the rest of the world. The increase in […]

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How much ethanol is headed for China?

Last week, three ships carrying ethanol from the U.S. Gulf Coast were headed to China. Reuters confirmed, from multiple sources, that this is a sign that fuel exports were increasing from the U.S. to China. These ethanol shipments may be enough to surpass the total amount of ethanol exported from the U.S. to China in […]

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