Looking good...really???
Crude oil markets coming back into 'better balance': Chevron CEO
Crude oil markets are coming back into "better balance" as supplies are cut back in response to lower prices, Chevron Chief Executive Officer and Chairman John Watson said Tuesday.
The oil industry in early 2015 responded to lower revenue by reducing spending on long-cycle projects, Watson told journalists on the sidelines of the LNG 18 conference in Perth, Western Australia.
"Now we're seeing reductions in spending on shorter cycle projects, in other words immediate drilling activity," Watson said. "Rig rates in the US are down almost 80%, we're seeing decline in rig rates around the world and we're starting to see the supply response that everyone has expected. So we're seeing the markets come back into better balance [but] it may take more time."
Watson declined to make any forecasts, but the oil prices seen over the last year would "not underpin very much activity," he stressed.
The oil industry in early 2015 responded to lower revenue by reducing spending on long-cycle projects, Watson told journalists on the sidelines of the LNG 18 conference in Perth, Western Australia.
"Now we're seeing reductions in spending on shorter cycle projects, in other words immediate drilling activity," Watson said. "Rig rates in the US are down almost 80%, we're seeing decline in rig rates around the world and we're starting to see the supply response that everyone has expected. So we're seeing the markets come back into better balance [but] it may take more time."
Watson declined to make any forecasts, but the oil prices seen over the last year would "not underpin very much activity," he stressed.
It must be obvious that the next occupant of the White House will preside over the implosion of all these arrangements since, in the immortal words of economist Herb Stein, if something can’t go on forever, it will stop. So the only individuals left seeking the position are 1) An inarticulate reality TV buffoon; 2) a war-happy evangelical maniac; 3) a narcissistic monster of entitlement whose “turn” it is to hold the country’s highest office; and 4) a valiant but quixotic self-proclaimed socialist altacocker who might have walked off the set of Welcome Back Kotter, 40th Reunion Special. These are the ones left standing halfway to the conventions. Nobody else in his, her, it, xe, or they right mind wants to be handed this schwag-bag of doom.
Doug Casey is bullish on the resource sector. He believes that it has hit bottom and will be going up from here. On the government and human front he’s not so optimistic. The sociopaths who run things are more concerned about the well-being of government rather than the people. For this reason it grows like a cancer and eventually consumes all in its path. But Doug believes that as long as WWIII doesn’t take place, humanity will ultimately find its way and move forward. However, there will be much suffering and unpleasantness as the Greater Depression rears its ugly head once again.
There have been 606 global interest-rate cuts and $12.4 trillion in central bank asset purchases since the fourth quarter of 2008. This made borrowing money extraordinarily cheap — for those who can actually get loans. These are government acts of market intervention … for some reason, Smith’s “invisible hand” couldn’t be trusted to fix things in this case. Here are some of the results, cited by the BofA report...
Crude Charging Higher Ahead Of Big Week
By Matt Smith
Thirty-three years after REM released their debut album, and the crude complex today is being driven by murmurs again. As the producer meeting in Doha approaches (but not fast enough…), here are seven things to consider in the oil market today:
1) Economic data flow was kicked off overnight by a weaker print for Chinese inflation in March. Inflation dropped on the prior month by -0.4 percent, limiting the year-on-year rise to 2.3 percent, below consensus of +2.5 percent. Nonetheless,food prices increased by 7.6 percent, driven by rising vegetable and pork costs.
2) As for Chinese producer prices, despite being negative on a year-over-year basis since 2012, the first month-on-month increase was seen since 2013. Year-on-year prices are showing easing deflation, down less than expected at -4.3 percent.
3) Economic data is thin on the ground elsewhere today. Fortunately, us energy folk get the EIA’s monthly drilling productivity report today, assessing the health of oil and gas production at key U.S. shale plays. We then get the triumvirate of key monthly oil reports, with the EIA’s short term energy outlook tomorrow, OPEC’s oil market report out on Wednesday, with the IEA the caboose on Thursday. Doha lurks in the distance on Sunday.
