Tag: Russia Crude Oil

Truth: The New Frontier In Energy

Posted on by Tim Snyder

“The following is an excerpt from Tim Snyder’s “Weekly Quick Facts” newsletter. Tim is an accomplished economist with a deep understanding of applied economics in energy. We encourage you to visit Matador Economics and learn more about Tim. While there, you can sign up for his completely free Daily Energy Briefs and Weekly Quick Facts newsletters.”

What is it about the truth that scares people?

I remember a time when finding the truth from a political party or the press was essential to the bond that both would build with their constituents. I know that sounds pretty naïve, and there has been politically leaning news media since way before I was born, but the truth is, we all used to read the newspaper for the facts, and if they got the facts wrong, they would print a retraction and fix the mistake. Sadly though, those days are long gone.

Today, however, the truth is more like the seasoning you put on your pasta primavera. It accentuates what it needs to but never overpowers the narrative. Unfortunately, that’s what is happening in the battle between fossil fuels and renewable energy today. The facts are sprinkled about to not offend the narrative that the economy desperately needs fossil fuels, and renewables are nowhere near ready for “center stage”.

Let’s have a little truth for a change! Continue reading "Truth: The New Frontier In Energy" →

The World Is Not Ready To Go Green

Posted on by Tim Snyder

“The following is an excerpt from Tim Snyder’s “Weekly Quick Facts” newsletter. Tim is an accomplished economist with a deep understanding of applied economics in energy. We encourage you to visit Matador Economics and learn more about Tim. While there, you can sign up for his completely free Daily Energy Briefs and Weekly Quick Facts newsletters.”

A little clarity helps keep the truth intact!

On Monday, March 21, 2022, in an address to the Business Roundtable’s CEO Quarterly Meeting, President Biden made these comments, “Things are shifting. We’re going to - there’s going to be a “New World Order” out there, and we’ve got to unite the rest of the free world in doing it.”

It’s dangerous to try and speculate as to what he meant, but in retrospect, the comments were made against the backdrop of the Invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin.

Was Biden boasting to his corporate supporters like GM, Apple, and Amazon and passing on some little glimpse of what he believes is about to come with Russia and maybe China?

Or was Biden sending a signal to NATO that when the initial Russian invasion is over, he believes Ukraine will fall quickly and new alliances will develop? Some nations will find themselves pitted against former NATO partners and committed to the Russians because of their vast energy resources? Probably both Continue reading "The World Is Not Ready To Go Green" →

Oil Market Waiting For A Catalyst

Posted on by Robert Boslego

Robert Boslego - INO.com Contributor - Energies


On November 15th, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said, “We need to recognize that by the end of March we’re not going to be at the level we want to be which is the five-year average, that means an extension of some sort.”

He went on to say that Saudi Arabia favors making an extension decision at the OPEC meeting at the end of this month. “My preference is to give clarity to the market and announce on November 30 what we’re going to do.”

At the conclusion of the last OPEC meeting in May, the Saudi minister had stated that the current production quotas will “do the trick” of rebalancing stocks to normal levels within six months. Earlier this month, the DOE projected that global OECD stocks at end-2017 would be right where they were at end-2016. And it projected that 2018 inventories will be higher, not lower.

Russia’s continued participation seems to be a linchpin, and the Russian energy minister, Alexander Novak, reportedly met with Russian oil producers about their view of extending the production deal. According to TASS, everyone but Gazprom Neft agreed to a six-month extension, not the nine-month extension favored by Mr. Al-Falih. Gazprom Neft expects to launch new projects in 2018. Continue reading "Oil Market Waiting For A Catalyst" →

Peak Oil Demand Season is Coming To A Close

Posted on by Robert Boslego

Robert Boslego - INO.com Contributor - Energies


Peak demand for crude at refineries and for products to consumers is drawing to a close this season. Together, they caused total U.S. oil inventories to drop by 49 million barrels from their peak in the week ending June 9th. Total U.S. oil inventories stand at 1.304 billion barrels in the week ending August 11th, 58 million barrels lower than a year ago.

Refinery demand for crude oil set a new record high this summer, as the 4-week trend reached 17.458 million barrels per day, 4.4% higher than last year. As depicted in the graph below, refiners will soon be dialing back their operations for maintenance, and this will reduce the demand for crude at U.S. refineries by about 1.5 mmbd.

U.S. Crude Input to Refineries

Domestic demand was relatively strong this summer, up about 2.0% from last year. Gasoline demand was somewhat disappointing, but distillate demand spiked. As shown in the graph below, seasonal demand has likely peaked and will be headed lower in the weeks and months ahead. Continue reading "Peak Oil Demand Season is Coming To A Close" →