Are we seeing a rerun of early 2008 in diminished form, as least as far as oil prices are concerned? Reader Michael sent along an article by Dan Dicker that contends that oil prices are well ahead of their fundamentals, and that, as before, the oil bulls are taking considerable cheer from Goldman’s boosterism. A […]
Read more...Submitted by Edward Harrison of the site Credit Writedowns. As I write this, the U.S. dollar has fallen to new 8-month lows against the British Pound and oil. Sterling is up over 2 big figures to 1.6371 while oil (WTI crude front month contract) has marched up near $68 a barrel. Clearly the sell the […]
Read more...This blog has been saying for a while that financial fraud is more pervasive than the officialdom wanted to acknowledge. We believe it is not uncommon at big firms (see last night’s discussion of Merrill, including comments), but no one wants to open that can of worms. However, small fry (even biggish ones, as long […]
Read more...One of our pet peeves has been that the quality of data for oil and gas is lousy. Given that these are physical products, bought and sold through many channels, with no way of assuring consistency and accuracy of reporting, it isn’t surprising. However, what is surprising is that many users of this information treat […]
Read more...Admittedly, the report from Emirates Business 24/7 (hat tip reader Michael) is only one expert’s opinion, but it focuses on an issue that hasn’t gotten the attention it warrants, namely, the level of the current oil glut and how much it is going to take to work it down. The subtext of this piece is […]
Read more...No, the headline is not an exaggeration. And it demonstrates that credit conditions remain tight for many less than stelar borrowers. From the Financial Times: In a striking example of how the global financial crisis and high food prices have strained the finances of poor and middle-income nations, countries including Russia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Morocco […]
Read more...Russia’s prime minister is not betting on a rebound in oil prices this year. From Moscow Times (hat tip reader Nivethan): Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered changes to this year’s federal budget to take into account the sharp drop in global oil prices, a decision that could pave the way for further spending […]
Read more...If you has only a passing interest in oil prices, it was not hard to notice the gaping price disparity between the two most widely quoted indexes, the current month Brent crude futures versus WTI (West Texas Intermediate), In the days prior to contract expiration in December, WTI traded as much as $9 below Brent. […]
Read more...The oil-rich countries of the Middle East have some advantages in pursuing the “green” energy market. First, they have pools of investment capital they can turn to this purpose. Possibly more important than access to money is that the funding sources may be willing to take a longer term horizon and lower returns than US […]
Read more...In past times of geopolitical stress, the dollar has generally rallies as investors move to safer havens. That behavior was not evident today as investors fretted about possible escalation of conflicts in the Middle East and South Asia. The euro went up a teeny bit, the yen faded slightly, the pound retreated. So where did […]
Read more...I am now wondering if Google censors posts (I use Blogger), I put this post up at 1:33 AM, and even had a reader e-mail me that the post had disappeared (with no listing in “Recent Posts” which happens if I put up a post and then remove it). I have a record that it […]
Read more...Liquefied natural gas doesn’t get much attention in the US because in aggregate, it is not a significant energy source here, and imports were at a five-year low in 2008. But supply/demand conditions has shifted dramatically overseas. The combination of depressed LNG prices and cheap shipping means that excess LNG may show up in the […]
Read more...From MarketWatch (weirdly, do not see referenced story on Wall Street Journal site, hat tip reader Scott): The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has decided to cut its oil output by 4.2 million barrels a day from September levels, or 2.2 million barrels a day from current output, the Wall Street Journal reported on its […]
Read more...Although talk of deep OPEC production cuts and hopes for an auto industry rescue have given oil prices a boost, the fundamentals are far from out of the woods. Indeed, as OPEC bravely claimed demand and supply really weren’t so far out of whack (was that at effort to set the stage for a less-than-hoped […]
Read more...Although the spot oil prices and oil stocks have rallied on word of a pending 1.5-2 million barrel a day cut by OPEC in pil production, oil maven Philip Verleger says it won’t be anywhere near enough. From Platts (hat tip reader Michael): In his widely-read weekly analysis, “Notes at the Margin,” energy economist [Philip] […]
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