Fortune (July 12)
“An energy crisis is already ravaging Russia’s economy, and a banking crisis may soon erupt as a mountain of debt weighs on consumers and businesses.” A European intelligence report indicates “the Kremlin has relied on banks to pump up the economy with massive liquidity, as its own budget comes under growing strain from Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.”
Tags: Banks, Budget, Businesses, Consumers, Crisis, Debt, Economy, Energy, European intelligence, Kremlin, Liquidity, Pump up, Putin, Ravaging, Relied, Russia, Strain, War
The Times (June 2)
“Since the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, schools have closed in Dhaka, food prices have surged in Lagos, and air fares have risen in Seoul. And in Tokyo, otherwise respectable men have started exposing their hairy knees.” Cool Biz and Super Cool Biz had already toppled expectations for suits and ties, but “it took the Hormuz crisis, for a country that imports 90 per cent of its energy from the Middle East, to topple this final bastion of formality.” There have been dire consequences of the Iran war, but “none as bizarre as the fate that has befallen the Japanese.”
Tags: Air fares, Bizarre, Consequences, Cool Biz, Crisis, Dhaka, Dire, Energy, Food prices, Formality, Lagos, Middle East, Respectable, Schools, Seoul, Strait of Hormuz, Suits, Ties, Tokyo, War
MarketWatch (May 12)
“The most expensive part of the Iran war may not be the oil prices themselves. It may be uncertainty. Markets can absorb expensive energy; businesses can adapt to higher fuel costs if those costs remain stable and predictable. What becomes far more damaging is an environment in which prices swing violently, geopolitical risks shift by the hour and corporate decision-makers lose visibility over what comes next.”
Tags: Adapt, Businesses, Decision-makers, Energy, Environment, Expensive, Fuel costs, Geopolitical risks, Iran war, Markets, Oil prices, Predictable, Prices, Shift, Stable, Uncertainty
Financial Times (May 7)
“US fuel exports have surged to a record level as Europe and Asia lean on American energy supplies to make up for the shortfalls caused by the war in Iran.” Last week, America exported over “8.2mn barrels a day of refined fuels including gasoline, diesel and jet fuel,” a year-on-year increase exceeding 20%. Last week’s “huge demand for US energy” also transformed America into “a net exporter of crude oil for the first time since the second world war.” While this provides “a windfall” to US energy companies, “it also risks a political backlash for President Donald Trump as domestic pump prices rise.”
Tags: 20%, 8.2mn bbl, Asia, Backlash, Crude oil, Demand, Diesel, Energy, Europe, Exports, Fuel, Gasoline, Iran, Jet fuel, Record, Shortfalls, Surged, Trump, U.S., War, Windfall
Wall Street Journal (March 12)
“Escalating Iranian attacks and the U.S. government’s decision to hold off on military escorts for oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz are raising the prospect of a prolonged closure that would choke off exports through the world’s most important energy-transport route.”
Tags: Attacks, Choke, Decision, Energy, Escalating, Exports, Government, Iranian, Military escorts, Oil tankers, Prolonged closure, Route, Strait of Hormuz, Transport, U.S.
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
Barron’s (July 31)
“The Federal Reserve’s key inflation gauge,” which excludes food and energy “ran just slightly above expectations in June, raising additional doubts about how quickly the bank will be able to lower interest rates.” Rising 0.3% month on month and 2.8% year on year, the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index surpassed consensus expectations. This week, Fed officials indicated the need before lowering rates for “more evidence that inflation is sustainably moving toward the bank’s 2% target,” but the PCE’s “stronger-than-expected result” appears to show the opposite.
Tags: 2% target, Consensus, Doubts, Energy, Evidence, Expectations, Fed, Food, Inflation, Inflation gauge, Interest rates, June, PCE
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.
LA Times (November 24)
“California is making so much solar energy that large commercial operators are increasingly forced to stop production, raising questions about the state’s costly plan to shift entirely to carbon-free sources of electricity.” Over the past year, “solar farms have curtailed production of more than 3 million megawatt hours of solar energy, either on the orders of the state’s grid operator or because prices had plummeted because of the glut.”
Tags: 3 million MWh, California, Carbon-free, Commercial operators, Electricity, Energy, Forced, Glut, Grid operator, Plummeted, Prices, Production, Solar farms
Wall Street Journal (June 15)
“Despite some CEO grumbling, businesses have thrived under Biden. Stocks are near records, corporate profits are up strongly, inflation has come down and the economy has so far managed a soft landing despite aggressive rate increases from the Federal Reserve. Industries like energy that appeared to be at risk from Biden’s policies have thrived.”
Tags: Biden, Businesses, CEO, Corporate profits, Economy, Energy, Grumbling, Inflation, Records, Soft landing Fed, Stocks, Thrived
