Souring Fundamentals Force Brent Crude Oil Below $40 - OilPrice.com

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Souring Fundamentals Force Brent Crude Oil Below $40 – OilPrice.com

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4 years ago

October 2, 2020

Harry Miller

Souring Fundamentals Force Brent Crude Oil Below $40 | OilPrice.com

Tom Kool

Tom majored in International Business at Amsterdam’s Higher School of Economics, he is Oilprice.com’s Head of Operations

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By Tom Kool – Oct 02, 2020, 2:00 PM CDT

Oil

Both the President and First Lady of the United States have tested positive for COVID-19 on a day when Brent oil prices crash below $40 and the U.S. rig count climbed.

For Global Energy Alert members there are now two new free reports available in your dashboard. The first of these reports is on how to interpret stock charts and the second outlines the three biggest mistakes made by traders today. Make sure you become a member to read these reports and many more.

Friday, October 2nd, 2020

Crude prices fell on Friday following news that President Donald Trump tested positive for the coronavirus. Broader equities also tumbled. As of midday trading, Brent was down more than 4 percent, dipping below $40 per barrel.

Shale companies did poorly, but executives got paid. A Wall Street Journal analysis found that the median pay for executives of U.S. oil and gas companies rose for four consecutive years to $13 million in 2019, up from $9.9 million in 2015. Over that time period, median shareholder returns fell 35 percent. Energy was the worst-performing sector in the S&P 500, but shale CEOs received larger raises last year than in all but two of the 11 major industries analyzed.

Moody’s: Natural gas faces long-term investment risk. A combination of legal challenges to natural gas pipelines, policies aimed at reducing emissions, and public scrutiny over natural gas could lead to a “measured reduction” in natural gas demand over the next two to three decades, according to a new report from Moody’s Investor Relations. “We’re raising the flag,” Ryan Wobbrock, vice president and senior credit officer at Moody’s Investors Service Inc. and the lead analyst on the report, told E&E News. “We’re talking about a multidecade horizon of risk.”

Natural gas prices could soar. The highly volatile U.S. natural gas benchmark prices are set to trend higher in the coming months amid lower domestic production, higher demand in the winter, and recovering global gas prices in Europe and Asia. Henry Hub prices have been volatile over the past few weeks, but have firmed up at around $2.50/MMBtu, sharply higher than levels from just a few months ago.

ExxonMobil stock falls on likely dim Q3 numbers. In an SEC filing on Thursday, ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) provided a Q3 earnings considerations update of its expectations for the third-quarter results relative to the second quarter. On Friday, Exxon’s share price fell roughly 2 percent, dipping to $32.47 per share, nearing a multi-decade low hit earlier this year.

NextEra considers $60 billion takeover of Duke Energy. NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE) recently approached Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), exploring what would be a $60 billion combination of two major utilities.

Oasis Petroleum files for bankruptcy. Oasis Petroleum (NASDAQ: OAS) filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday, the latest driller to fall victim to the downturn.

Demand concerns continue. U.S. gasoline demand remained flat for most of the third quarter, undercutting hopes of a rebound. “It’s hard to paint the bullish demand story for energy in the short term…I just don’t see it,” said Jennifer Rowland, senior energy analyst for Edward Jones. “Instead, I see all the warning signs.”

Oil traders doubt OPEC+ increases production. OPEC+ is scheduled to further unwind production cuts beginning in January, adding 2 mb/d back onto the market. But some traders doubt that the group will follow through due to weak demand. “I don’t think OPEC will increase production in January…If they do, the market will test them to the downside,” Pierre Andurand, founder and chief investment office at Andurand Capital, told the FT Global Commodities Summit. Related: Iraq Ships More Crude Oil Despite OPEC Output Cut Pledge

Trump signs executive order on rare earths. U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order declaring a national emergency in the mining industry, a move that seeks to curb the country’s reliance on rare earths in his latest bid to end China’s control of the market.

Another round of industry layoffs. Marathon Petroleum (NYSE: MPC) began cutting jobs on Tuesday, with about 12 percent of its workforce set to be let go. Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) said it would eliminate 9,000 jobs. Chevron (NYSE: CVX) and ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) are in the process of restructuring.

Total doesn’t see peak demand until 2030. While BP (NYSE: BP) said that the world likely already passed peak oil demand, French oil giant Total (NYSE: TOT) said in a new report that peak demand remains a decade away. Total said that it would boost spending on renewables to $3 billion annually by then and that it would cut sales of gasoline and diesel by 30 percent.

Ohio cancels permit for gas storage. Ohio environmental regulators have canceled key permits needed for an underground natural gas liquids storage facility, dimming hopes that the region will become a major natural gas liquids storage hub that would bolster the buildout of a broader petrochemical hub.

Abandoned wells could leave billions of dollars to taxpayers. U.S. taxpayers could be on the hook for tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars in clean up costs for abandoned wells as a growing number of producers collapse into bankruptcy, according to a new report from Carbon Tracker. Related: Natural Gas Prices Explode On Stronger Demand

Denmark gives greenlight to Nord Stream 2. Denmark gave the go-ahead to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, boosting a project that is more than 90 percent complete, but that has been held up recently because of U.S. sanctions and a backlash over the suspected poisoning of a Russian opposition leader by the Kremlin.

Vietnam approves $5 billion LNG project. Vietnamese city Haiphong approved of a $5 billion LNG project to be developed by ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM).

Attempts to open up Atlantic Coast for drilling on brink of collapse. The Trump administration’s efforts to open up the Atlantic to offshore oil and gas exploration could collapse as permits for seismic testing by four companies are set to expire without being renewed.

$110 billion in asset sales could be difficult to pull off. Large oil and gas companies have proposed as much as $110 billion in asset sales in an effort to cut back on debt, but finding buyers could prove tricky. “This is not a very good time to sell assets,” Total (NYSE: TOT) CEO Patrick Pouyanne said on Wednesday.

By Tom Kool for Oilprice.com

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RCMP national security team investigating Yellowhead County pipeline rupture: Alberta minister – Global News

Published

8 hours ago

April 18, 2024

Harry Miller

Alberta’s minister of forestry and parks said the RCMP national security investigation team is involved in a probe looking into what caused a pipeline to rupture and catch fire west of Edmonton earlier this week.

On Tuesday, a wildfire was sparked following a natural gas pipeline rupture about 40 kilometres northwest of Edson, Alta. The fire has since been deemed under control.

“We have no indication of any kind of cause on that fire yet; the investigation is happening,” Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen said at a wildfire-related news conference Thursday morning. “The national security investigation team of the RCMP are investigating the cause.

“My understanding, since the cause was unknown, that’s standard practice for them to come in on anything that’s unknown.”

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RCMP said as of Tuesday, initial reports had shown no signs of foul play.

Global News has reached out to the RCMP for more information. On its website, the RCMP states it has a wide range of national security-related mandates and responsibilities. It says its national security criminal investigations program involves critical infrastructure protection and critical incident management.

Officials say the investigation into what caused the TC Energy pipeline to break could take months or even years.

The Canada Energy Regulator had investigators on site on Wednesday. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is also investigating the incident.

The rupture sparked a blaze that could be seen for kilometres, sending large flames and plumes of smoke into the air.

Business

A sunken boat dream has left a bad taste in this Tim Hortons customer's mouth – CBC.ca

Published

10 hours ago

April 18, 2024

Harry Miller

A St. John’s woman says she won’t be paying many more visits to Tim Hortons, after an email from the coffee chain led her to believe that she’d won a new boat — when she hadn’t won anything at all.

“I go to Tim’s quite a lot, seven days a week. I’m afraid now that’s going to change to no days a week,” Carol Evans told CBC News on Thursday.

Evans said she received an email from Tim Hortons on Wednesday afternoon while on a break from her work as an licensed practical nurse.

The email recapped the prizes she’d won in the annual Roll Up the Rim to Win contest, but there was one extra prize included — a brand new boat and trailer, valued at about $55,000.

Unfortunately, the excitement was over by the time she got home from work.

“I was just so excited, really excited. I thought I really won a boat and a trailer, $55,000 worth, and to find out at five to six, I had an email from them come in telling me it was a technical error,” she said.

“I don’t get my boat and I don’t get my trailer.”

WATCH | This woman explains why she won’t go to Tim Hortons anymore:

Tim Hortons told this St. John’s woman she won a boat and a trailer. It was a mistake

5 hours ago

Duration 0:49

Carol Evans of St. John’s was elated when she got an email from Tim Hortons saying she won $55,000 worth of prizes. Another email from the coffee giant a few hours later, telling her it was an error, had her crushed — and fuming.

Evans said her win was the talk of her co-workers.

“I work with about a hundred people in the run of a day, and more than that outside the OR, and everybody was so happy for me. They couldn’t believe it, I finally won something in my life,” she said.

“But to find out a few hours later I didn’t, it was disappointing, very disappointing.… I cried, it was so sad.”

Although she may not have taken it out on the water, Evans said winning would have meant a lot to her, like helping fund her retirement after more than five decades in nursing.

“I could have sold the boat and trailer and had some money, paid off some bills, probably could have, who knows, retired after 55 years of work,” she said.

A smartphone screen shows a picture of a boat and trailer. — Evans got this email that said she’d won a new boat and trailer worth about $55,000. (Curtis Hicks/CBC)

In an emailed statement to CBC News on Thursday, Tim Hortons said the message was meant to show what each customer won over the course of the contest — and the boat was included by mistake.

“We developed a Roll Up To Win recap email message with the best intentions of giving our guests a fun overview of their 2024 play history.

“Unfortunately there was a human error that resulted in some guests receiving some incorrect information in their recap message.”

The company didn’t disclose how many people across the country received the email, but CBC News spoke to another person in western Newfoundland who got it.

Others in Edmonton, Hamilton and Brampton, Ont., were also told they’d won the boat.

By Wednesday afternoon, a Facebook group had formed with more than 200 people expressing outrage about the mistake and threatening to file lawsuits.

Tim Hortons apologizes

Tim Hortons sent the affected customers a letter, telling them to disregard that winning email and that it was sent as a result of “technical errors.”

“Unfortunately, some prizes that you did not win may have been included in the recap email you received. If this was the case, today’s email does not mean that you won those prizes,” the letter read.

“We apologize for the frustration this has caused and for not living up to our high standards.”

It’s a familiar story for Tim’s, however, as last year, its app mistakenly informed users they’d won $10,000.

Evans said two years of big mistakes just isn’t fair. She’d like to see Tim Hortons move away from the Roll Up to Win smartphone app and back to paper cups.

“It’s not fair to the public who spend their hard-earned money to go into Tim’s and buy their coffee every day, buy their lunch, and then think they won a prize and all of a sudden you learn, three hours later, you didn’t win a prize, and it’s not fair.”

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Tofino, Pemberton among communities opting in to B.C.'s new short-term rental restrictions – Vancouver Sun

Published

11 hours ago

April 18, 2024

Harry Miller

The new regulations will take effect in Bowen Island, Tofino, Pemberton and 14 other communities on Nov. 1

Published Apr 18, 2024 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 5 minute read

Minister of Housing Ravi Kahlon Photo by CHAD HIPOLITO /THE CANADIAN PRESS

With less than two weeks before B.C.’s short-term rental restrictions take effect, visitors staying at an Airbnb, Vrbo or other short-term rental homes are told to check with their hosts to make sure they are not staying in illegal accommodations.

Guests should ask hosts if they are compliant with the new rules, said B.C.’s housing minister, even as he reassured guests they won’t be on the hook.

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“The responsibility to comply with the rules fall with the hosts and the short-term rental platforms,” said Ravi Kahlon at a news conference with Premier David Eby in Langley on Thursday. “We encourage people to continue to explore beautiful British Columbia, and stay in legal short-term rental accommodations.”The new regulations set to take effect on May 1 would restrict short-term rentals to principal residences and either a secondary suite or a laneway home/garden suite on the property.

They apply to more than 60 B.C. communities with populations of more than 10,000 people, as well as 17 smaller communities, including Bowen Island, Tofino, Osoyoos, Pemberton, and Gabriola Island, which have decided to opt in. For these communities, the rules will take effect on Nov. 1.

The new legislation carries penalties of $500 to $5,000 a day per infraction for hosts and reach as high as $10,000 a day for platforms.

Eby said the province’s principal residence requirement is meant to crack down on speculators while allowing homeowners to rent out spaces in their principal residences if they choose to do so.

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He acknowledged the restrictions could put some property owners’ investment and retirement plans into disarray, but made no apologies, saying people with money to invest should put their money elsewhere.

“Do not compete with individuals and families who are looking for place to live with your investment dollars,” Eby said, adding the government will “tilt the deck every single time toward that family.”

The government has set up a provincial enforcement unit, currently staffed by four people, to conduct investigations into alleged non-compliant units.

The enforcement will be largely done digitally and includes the use of a short-term rental data portal that’ll help local governments monitor and enforce regulations.

Municipalities with their own short-term rental restrictions can upload non-compliant properties to the portal, said Kahlon. Platforms will have five days to verify whether the units are on their sites. Local governments without short-term rental licensing can report properties they believe are not compliant.

The platforms will be required to remove non-compliant listings at the request of local or the provincial governments and provide the province with a monthly update of short-term listings on their sites, said Kahlon.

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Companies such as Expedia and Booking.com are working to get ready for the new rules, and he’s hopeful other platforms will follow suit by May 1.

Airbnb said it has been in discussions with the provincial government for months and plans to comply with the new rules, but predicts they will harm the province’s tourism sector by taking extra income away from residents and limiting accommodation options for people, while doing little to improve the housing crunch for residents.

“They’re doing this because they say there’s going to be an impact on housing, that this will free up more housing for people,” said Nathan Rotman, Airbnb’s policy lead in Canada. “That is just not true.”

Despite several years of Airbnb restrictions in Vancouver, for example, rents have gone up while vacancies stayed low, he said.

Kahlon said the pending rules are already having a positive impact on housing availability with short-term rentals being converted to long-term use or being put up for sale.

In March, more than 19,000 entire homes in B.C. were listed as short-term rentals for most of the year, said the province. Even if half of those units are returned to the long-term market, that’ll make a “substantial difference” in communities, said Kahlon.

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Eby said there has been a “massive upswing” in hotel construction in key tourist areas as an unintended result of the new policies.

Bowen Island, a small community of 4,200 whose council voted in March to opt into the province’s short-term rental regulations, has seen increased pressure from tourists and housing demand in recent years.

The decision was council’s way “to balance what is appropriate use in residentially-zoned neighbourhoods while still allowing property owners to still do what they want with their properties,” said Mayor Andrew Leonard.

The principal residence requirement still allows for Airbnb and other short-term rentals on the island, he pointed out. “The vast majority of short-term rental operations are unaffected. This just keeps it in the homes of homeowners instead of speculators.”

Some communities, including Parksville’s Resort Drive area, were granted an exemption last month under the province’s exemption for strata hotel or motels. The area was purpose-built as tourism accommodation more than two decades ago.

The new legislation is being challenged in B.C. Supreme Court by Victoria-based groups and the Westcoast Association for Property Rights, who are calling for a review of the new rules and compensation for financial losses.

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According to Airbnb, Airbnb bookings and related spending generated around $2.5 billion in B.C. in 2023 and created 25,000 jobs.

The company says that for every $100 spent on an Airbnb booking, guests also spent about $229 on other travel spending.

More than three quarters of hosts polled by the company say they use their Airbnb earnings to cover rising costs of living, especially housing.

chchan@postmedia.com

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