OilPrice.com (March 11)
“The world’s top crude oil and LNG importer, China, is not as exposed and vulnerable to energy deliveries from the Middle East as one might think. China has been amassing crude volumes in storage for months, it has been working for years to diversify oil and gas supply sources and routes, and has boosted the share of transport electrification, which has reduced demand for road transportation fuels.”
Tags: China, Crude oil, Demand, Electrification, Energy, Exposed, Gas, Importer, LNG, Middle East, Storage. Diversify, Supply sources, Transport, Vulnerable
New York Times (March 4)
“All eyes are on the Gulf states’ vulnerable energy facilities and on the Strait of Hormuz, the transitway for crude oil and natural gas that has been paralyzed by Iranian forces” as Iran seeks “to drive up the cost of war….. Unless energy shipments quickly return to normal levels, the upheaval could batter the global economy and ratchet up pressure on President Trump.”
Tags: Batter, Cost of war, Crude oil, Energy facilities, Energy shipments, Global economy, Gulf states, Iranian forces, Natural gas, Paralyzed, Pressure, Strait of Hormuz, Trump, Upheaval, Vulnerable
Washington Post (February 26)
“Many Asian governments used threats from President Donald Trump as a pretext to enact unpopular but necessary free-market reforms…. To get lower tariff rates, they agreed to pry open their closed markets to allow in American beef, auto parts and crude oil.” Now that the Supreme Court has ruled against the tariffs and Trump has instead “imposed a baseline tariff of 15 percent… some leaders feel buyer’s remorse.” In fact, it looks like the elusive goal of “liberalizing Asia’s tightly protected markets” may slip away, something that “would be a shame on both sides of the Pacific.”
Tags: Asia, Auto parts, Beef, Buyer’s remorse, Crude oil, Free market reforms, Governments, Necessary, Pretext, Supreme Court, Tariff rates, Threats, Trump, U.S., Unpopular
Fortune (April 8)
“The U.S. crude oil benchmark temporarily plunged below the stress-inducing $60 per barrel threshold on Monday amid tariff and economic slowdown fears, putting the nation’s record-high volumes of oil production at risk.” After beginning April above $70, oil temporarily dropped below $60 (NYMEX WTI). “Energy analysts see the $60 per barrel price as a key threshold when oil producers scale back activity and, eventually, cut back on production.”
Tags: Analysts, Benchmark, Crude oil, Economic slowdown, Energy, Fears, NYMEX WTI, Plunged. $60/bbl, Producers, Production. Risk, Scale back, Tariff, Threshold, U.S.
Seeking Alpha (October 28)
“Benchmark crude oil futures fell Monday in their largest one-day decline in more than two years after Israel’s weekend strikes on Iran avoided energy facilities and ease worries of a wider war that could disrupt global supplies… Analysts said the lack of strikes on oil or nuclear facilities leaves the door open for both sides to de-escalate the conflict.”
Tags: Analysts, Benchmark, Crude oil, De-escalate, Decline, Disrupt, Energy facilities, Futures, Iran, Israel, Nuclear, Oil, Strikes, Wider war
Oilprice.com (January 22)
“Since China doesn’t report crude oil inventories, it’s all guesswork as to just how much crude the country has stashed over the past year.” Rising inventory levels “could mean that China’s imports may not be as strong as anticipated. But it could also mean that refiners are preparing for a surge in demand” in the post-Covid restriction era. “There is one certainty in the oil markets – the economic growth in China has been and will continue to be a key factor in global oil demand, capable of moving oil prices in either direction.”
Tags: China, Covid, Crude oil, Demand, Economic growth, Guesswork, Imports, Inventories, Prices, Refiners, Strong, Surge
Oilprice.com (December 26)
“Although the EU embargo and the EU-G7 price cap on Russian crude oil at $60 per barrel didn’t immediately roil the oil market – although traders were concerned about a possible demand hit from slowing economies – uncertainty is growing over how the bans on Russian imports will affect supply balances over the next few months.”
Tags: $60, Bans, Barrel, Crude oil, Demand, Economies, Embargo, EU, EU-G7, Imports, Oil market, Price cap, Roil, Russia, Supply, Traders, Uncertainty
Financial Times (March 12)
As “crude oil hit 14-year highs,” the mood at Houston’s CERAWeek conference was decidedly upbeat. “Industry executives who have felt maligned during the onset of a global energy transition” were “again feeling at the centre of epochal events.” Supply security clearly topped climate.
Tags: CERAWeek, Climate, Crude oil, Energy transition, Epochal, Executives, Highs, Houston, Industry, Maligned, Supply security
Institutional Investor (September Issue)
“The combination of collapsing crude oil prices, wild currency swings and heightened governance scrutiny has created a challenging environment for many of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds”.
