OIL
Low Oil Prices Will Boost Consumption
Michael Lynch, Forbes Energy, August 4, 2020
A huge number of pundits and organizations have trumpeted the idea that the pandemic will accelerate the peak in world oil demand, due to a combination of slower economic growth and changing consumer behavior. Most amusing are those who think the instability in oil prices will discourage use of oil, as if a drop in price would scare away consumers. Without a doubt economic growth and income are the primary drivers of oil consumption, but price is the most important secondary element. It’s not that a price crash will encourage consumers to leave their cars running in the driveway, but on the margin, it will make them less inclined to save gasoline, especially if it costs money. I love the dueling suggestions like Will Kennedy in the Washington Post, “Now it’s unclear whether the appetite for oil, and the prices that went with it, will ever return.”
GAS
Kenai LNG plant eligible for historic designation
Elizabeth Earl, KDLL, August 4, 2020
Drivers headed out the Kenai Spur Highway to Nikiski pass through a highly industrialized area with huge tanks, fences, and smokestacks. Those are shared among the old Nutrien fertilizer facility, the Kenai Liquefied Natural Gas terminal, and the Marathon Petroleum refinery (which most locals still call Tesoro). Most peninsula residents know what they are but may not know that the Kenai LNG Plant actually represents a significant piece of oil and gas history. The LNG terminal has been there since ConocoPhillips built it in the 1960s and used to export natural gas harvested in Cook Inlet. For a long time, it was the only LNG export plant of domestic production in the country. It’s been quiet for a while, and the company that’s now Marathon Petroleum bought it for a bargain $10 million back in 2018. One of the most notable things about it, though, is some of the technology that’s still there.
MINING
Alaska Gold Mines: 2019 Actual And 2020 Forecast Production
Brent Hecht, Seeking Alpha, July 22, 2020
Summary
- Alaska is a major gold-producing state so it benefits investors to understand the companies that operate there.
- This article identifies current and prospective gold mining opportunities in Alaska.
- All-in sustaining costs and proven and probable reserves for each gold mine are provided.
Alaska is one of the largest gold-producing states in the United States. Gold produced in Alaska is only second to gold produced in Nevada, which leads all other states by a large margin. However, Alaska is a mostly unexplored region when compared with Nevada. Alaska is six times larger than Nevada and yet has fewer operating gold mines.
Take the Donlin Mine, for example, which is a development mine with a 50/50 joint venture between Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) and NovaGold (NYSEMKT:NG). This mine may prove to be one of the largest gold mines in the world, and yet it is just now being developed in 2020.
POLITICS
Read Joe Biden’s Lips: New Taxes
The Editorial Board, The Wall Street Journal, July 31, 2020
More than $3 trillion in new levies on incomes, payrolls and more.
Joe Biden is a heavy favorite to be the next President, yet the media have barely paid attention to what he will do if he wins. We’ll try to fill that knowledge gap in the coming weeks, and a good place to start is his proposal for tax increases of more than $3 trillion over a decade. Let’s examine the unfine print.