COVID 19
COVID
19 is killing oil and gas but the virus could also poison renewables
Ken Silverstein, Forbes, April 6, 2020
Whiting Petroleum Corp. has succumbed to COVID-19 and the oil battle now taking place between Saudi Arabia and Russia. It filed for bankruptcy last week. Questions abound, ranging from how many more independent oil and gas operations could go under to what are the possible implications for energy markets. Given the economic downturn — 7 million jobs lost in March alone — the demand for oil and gas will remain weak. That will cause prices to fall even further, perhaps as low as $20 per barrel. But the dip will be relatively short-lived. And while oil prices are expected to climb again, green energy’s future is now in limbo. With gasoline prices so low, the pressure is off to invest in alternative fuels.
Paycheck Protection Program Loans: Three Things The SBA And Banks Need To Agree On Now
OIL
As oil storage in
lower 48 declines, Alaska maintains separate supply chain
Matt Leseman, KTUU, April 5, 2020
The oil price war between Russia and Saudia Arabia is causing oil storage facilities in the lower 48 to fill at a rapid pace, but according to oil and gas analyst Larry Persily, oil from Alaska’s North Slope works on a different supply line. Arctic North Slope crude is sent down the Trans Alaska Pipeline to Valdez, where it’s stored and eventually transported, by tanker, to a refinery on the West Coast. “US Crude storage is in Cushing, Oklahoma, it’s in salt caverns in Texas, Louisiana,” Persily said. “No Alaska North Slope Crude is going into that.”
GAS
U.S.
natgas futures rise over 4% for second day on cooler forecasts
Oil & Gas 360, April 6, 2020
U.S. natural gas futures rose over 4% for a second day in a row on Monday on forecasts for cooler weather and higher heating demand next week than previously expected. Front-month gas futures for May delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 7.5 cents, or 4.6%, to $1.696 per million British thermal units at 9:40 a.m. EDT (1340 GMT). Despite the increase, gas was still just about 15 cents over the $1.552 settle on April 2, its lowest close since August 1995.
MINING
Spain
is mining copper again
Cecilia Jamismie, Mining. Com, April 6, 2020
Atalaya Mining (LON: ATYM) has restarted operations at its Riotinto copper mine in Spain after local authorities in Andalucía determined that mining operations supplying other essential industries should remain open. The Cyprus-headquartered company closed the mine on March 30 in response to the Spanish government’s royal decree, which ordered the suspension of non-essential business operations, including mining. On Friday, Andalucía’s mining department informed Atalaya that the definition of an essential industry had been extended to include mining.
POLITICS
The
death of the permanent fund dividend
Ed King, King Economics Group, April 6, 2020
Within the span of five years, the PFD has been reframed as a welfare payment rather than a wealth distribution. As a result, it is a fraction of its former self. At the current speed and trajectory, the PFD will be dead within the next year or two.