News of the Day:
Unemployment Dips as Economy Adds 2.5 Million Jobs in May, Defying Dire Predictions
OIL
OPEC + Set to Extend Oil Cuts as Meeting Called for Weekend
Javier Blas & Grant Smith, Bloomberg, June 5, 2020
OPEC+ is set to extend production cuts to prop up the oil market after a breakthrough in high-stakes negotiations, with the alliance meeting on Saturday to sign off on the deal. After almost a week of wrangling, the group’s leaders Russia and Saudi Arabia clinched a tentative deal with holdout member Iraq, according to a delegate. The pair were pushing Baghdad to stop shirking its share of cuts and to compensate for past failings.
GAS
What’s Holding Natural Gas Prices Back?
Alex Kimani, OILPRICE.COM, June 4, 2020
Natural gas prices are still flirting with decade-lows courtesy of a stubborn supply overhang thanks to a deluge from shale fields and weak demand due to unfavorable weather. In fact, the supply glut has become so bad that even a leading producer turning off the taps has done little to boost prices. Natural gas prices have barely barged after Russia’s national oil producer (NOC), Gazprom PJSC, cut off shipments through a key link via Belarus and Poland.
MINING
New leadership, debt restructuring good signs for Niblack
Shane Lasley, North of 60 Mining News, June 4, 2020
There are signs of renewed life for the Niblack copper-gold-zinc-silver project on Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska. Heatherdale Resources Ltd., the company that owns Niblack, advanced the potential underground mine nearly to the permitting stage but became hampered by financial liabilities. A deal announced on June 3 cleans up Heatherdale’s balance sheet and puts Rob McLeod at the helm of the restructured company.
POLITICS
Trump signs order to waive environmental reviews for key projects
Juliet Eilperin & Jeff Stein, The Washington Post, June 5, 2020
President Trump signed an executive order Thursday instructing agencies to waive long-standing environmental laws to speed up federal approval for new mines, highways, pipelines and other projects given the current economic “emergency.” Declaring an economic emergency lets the president invoke a section of federal law allowing “action with significant environmental impact” without observing normal requirements imposed by laws such as the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. These laws require agencies to solicit public input on proposed projects and analyze in detail how federal decisions could harm the environment.