Barron’s (April 21)
“Oil prices have given back almost all of the gains they made after OPEC and its allies surprised the market by agreeing to cut production by 1.2 million barrels a day starting in May. It’s a sign that the oil market is more focused on demand now, and doesn’t see enough evidence that countries are using more oil.”
Tags: Allies, Demand, Gains, Market, Oil prices, OPEC, Production, Surprised
Seeking Alpha (April 5)
“Investors were taken by surprise on April 2nd when news broke that OPEC+…announced unexpected cuts in output. This move came even in spite of a previously rosy forecast for the supply and demand balance that OPEC made public…. Investors would be wise to see this as a bullish development for any company that benefits from higher oil prices. But in particular, the exploration and production companies could be very appealing to consider at this time.”
Tags: Appealing, Bullish, Demand, Exploration, Forecast, Investors, Oil prices, OPEC, Output, Production, Supply, Surprise, Unexpected
New York Times (January 16)
“Intent on reversing America’s decline in the world’s production of cutting-edge semiconductors, the federal government has begun what is arguably the government’s largest foray into the private sector since World War II.” This “more muscular approach to industrial policy” is “pockmarked with risks. On balance, the record of government trying to improve the functioning of the private sector is poor, and particularly in complex sectors like semiconductors, the challenges are great.”
Tags: Complex, Cutting edge, Decline, Government, Industrial policy, Intent, Private-sector, Production, Reversing, Risks, Semiconductors, U.S., WWII
The Week (October 8)
“Alarm is rising over a global slowdown that’s testing even Apple’s invincibility… In September, Apple was so bullish about its sales projections for the new iPhone 14 that it told suppliers to bump production by roughly 7 percent.” Within just a few weeks, Apple backtracked. “If Apple is struggling to gauge consumer sentiment, that doesn’t bode well for other companies.
Tags: Alarm, Apple, Backtracked, Bullish, Consumer sentiment, Gauge, Global slowdown, Invincibility, iPhone 14, Production, Sales projections, September, Struggling, Suppliers
New York Times (July 14)
President Biden is in the Middle East hoping production may be increased, “but the oil crunch may already be easing. A report yesterday from the International Energy Agency suggests that the worst of the supply crisis may be over.” The IEA slashed its demand forecasts “for this year and next, pointing to high prices that would reduce consumption and slow the global economy.”
Tags: Biden, Consumption, Demand, Easing, Forecasts, Global economy, High prices, IEA, Middle East, Oil crunch, Production, Supply crisis
Reuters (June 24)
“A scramble for lithium” is creating “new risks for electric-car makers. Breathtaking prices are prompting the industry to find new ways to secure the crucial battery ingredient,” often through “direct contracts with miners and refiners” with “options to buy 100% or more of a project’s planned production capacity.” Although “vertical integration is tempting when times are tough,” it can leave buyers overstretched and “dealmaking under duress makes miscalculations more likely.”
Tags: Battery, Breathtaking, Buyers, Capacity, Dealmaking, Duress, EVs, Lithium, Miners, Overstretched, Prices, Production, Refiners, Risks, Scramble, Vertical integration
Wall Street Journal (June 3)
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine calls into question the wisdom of the environmental, social and governance movement’s policy centerpiece: restricting oil and gas investment.” Moreover, “the coordinated effort to depress oil and gas production is potentially a violation of American antitrust law. This combination of bad policy and legal risk will likely” cause the movement to “lose much of its support.”
Tags: Antitrust law, Coordinated, ESG movement, Gas, Invasion, Investment, Legal risk, Oil, Policy, Production, Restricting, Russia, Support, U.S., Ukraine, Violation
New York Times (April 11)
“Even though globalization has its problems, the current fad for re-shoring production is likely to run into some limits…. If cutting the Russian economy off from the rest of the world and forcing it to produce everything it needs at home is a punishment to Russia, why would it be a good thing for the United States to try to become self-sufficient?”
Tags: Economy, Fad, Globalization, Limits, Problems, Production, Punishment, Re-shoring, Russia, Self-sufficient, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (March 3)
“How in the world did Europe leave itself so vulnerable to Vladimir Putin’s energy extortion?” Less than two decades ago, EU nations “produced more gas than Russia exported. Yet European production has plunged by more than half over the last decade” while Russia “happily filled the supply gap.”
Tags: Energy extortion, EU, Europe, Export, Gas, Plunged, Production, Putin, Russia, Supply gap, Vulnerable
FreightWaves (February 14)
“The busiest commercial crossing between the U.S. and Canada, the Ambassador Bridge, reopened late Sunday after police in Windsor, Ontario, cleared out a protest over COVID-19 restrictions that squeezed the cross-border supply chain for a week.” Some other border crossings still remain closed by protests, which have “disrupted millions of dollars of trade and led multiple auto plants to slow production because of delays in receiving parts.”
Tags: Ambassador Bridge, Auto plants, Busiest, Canada, Commercial crossing, COVID-19, Delays, Disrupted, Ontario, Police, Production, Protest, Reopened, Restrictions, Supply chain, Trade, U.S., Windsor
