Tag: aviation

Best in Energy – 2 March 2023

Global CO2 emissions hit record high in 2022

India refinery processing hits seasonal record

Latin America accelerates solar deployment

U.S. gas turbines reach record operating rate

Argentina experiences mass blackout

United States explores more China sanctions

Passenger aviation demand stays high ($FT)

U.S. rail freight weakened further in February

China prepares economic team overhaul ($FT)

U.S. MANUFACTURERS reported business activity declined in February for the fourth month running. The ISM composite activity index was 47.7 in February up marginally from 47.4 in January but both readings were in only the 16th percentile for all months since 1980. New orders fell for the sixth month in a row. The new orders sub-index (47.0) was in only the 14th percentile for all months since 1980:

U.S. DISTILLATE inventories were unchanged over the seven days ending on February 24. Stocks were -14 million barrels (-11% or -0.87 standard deviations) below the prior ten-year seasonal average but the deficit has narrowed from -31 million barrels (-22% or -2.5 standard deviations) on October 7:

Best in Energy – 15 February 2023

Global central banks inject $1 trillion of liquidity

South Asia’s price-sensitive LNG consumption

U.S. services sector inflation remains high ($BBG)

U.S. automakers have more pricing power ($BBG)

Ocean freight rates slump as volumes fall ($WSJ)

China’s major refiners resume Russia oil buying

U.S. pilot shortage drives up airfares ($FT)

Near-space and sovereignty issues ($WSJ)

U.S. SERVICE SECTOR prices excluding rent (a measure economists have taken to calling “supercore” inflation) rose at an annualised rate of +5.2% over the three months ending in January, more than twice as fast as the central bank’s target of a little over 2% per year. Supercore prices rose at an annualised rate of +7% in January alone and were up by a similar amount over the previous 12 months, implying there is still a lot of momentum behind inflation:

U.S. INTEREST RATE traders expect the central bank will have to adopt a more restrictive policy to squeeze persistent inflation out of the economy. The central bank is expected to raise its fed funds target rate to 5.00-5.25% or even 5.25-5.50% by August 2023 up from 4.50-4.75% at present. Forecasts for interest rates at the end of 2024 have risen by almost +75 basis points since the start of the month:

Best in Energy – 13 December 2022

EU agrees carbon border tariff in principle

China deletes epidemic phone tracking app

China faces exit wave of infections ($BBG)

China’s internal aviation rebounds ($BBG)

U.S. shale oil revolution is maturing ($BBG)

Turkish Straits re-open to oil tankers ($BBG)

U.S. solar roll out slows on trade restrictions

U.K. grid cancels stand-by notices for coal units

Battery materials technology

COAL-FIRED generators typically require 2-3 hours from initial notification to reach full power from a hot start, 6-7 hours from a warm start, and 10 or more hours from a cold start. Assuming the two massive coal units at Drax are typical, if the U.K. transmission operator wants them to be available during the evening peak from 1600 to 1900 GMT, notice to light up and begin warming must be given by 0600 GMT. If the forecast reserve margin improves during the day, however, the stand-by notices can be cancelled later, as happened on December 12.

The table below shows typical timelines for coal-fired and gas-fired generators showing how it takes (1) from initial notification from the grid controller to synchronisation with the grid – at which point the generator can start providing power to the network; and (2) from synchronisation to reaching maximum power output (“Technical Assessment of the Operation of Coal & Gas Fired Plants,” Parsons-Brinckerhoff for the U.K. Department of Energy, 2014):

LONDON and southeast United Kingdom are now a quarter of the way through the typical heating season. After an exceptionally warm period from mid-October to late November, which depressed heating demand, temperatures have plunged far below normal, erasing the earlier deficit in degree days, and putting winter heating demand on an entirely different trajectory:

Best in Energy – 6 December 2022

Renewables deployment accelerated by energy crisis

North Carolina substations in sophisticated sabotage

Oil tankers in queue to transit Turkish straits ($FT)

France prepares for tight power supplies next week

New England grid outlines winter reliability plan

EU retail sales fall with economy in recession ($WSJ)

EU plan for gas price cap distracts from real problem

U.S. jet fuel consumption below pre-pandemic level

BRENT’s six-month calendar spread has collapsed to a backwardation of just 67 cents per barrel (54th percentile for all trading days since 1990) from $8 (98th percentile) at the start of November. Month-to-month spreads are flat through April 2023. Traders anticipate crude supplies will remain comfortable through the first few months of next year because: (a) the EU/G7 price cap on Russia’s exports was set at a relatively high level; (b) policymakers have signalled a relaxed approach to enforcement (c) refiners have boosted purchases and inventories ahead of the price cap’s introduction; and (d) the slowing global economy is expected to dampen oil consumption:

Best in Energy –4 April 2022

[MUST READ] Sanctions and a long conflict

[MUST READ] Wars and settlements ($BBG)

SPR sale – formal announcement and details

France’s electricity grid calls for conservation

China to buy Russia LNG via middlemen ($BBG)

Australia’s export earnings boosted by conflict

EU/Russia standoff over gas payments

U.S. jet fuel prices surge on East Coast

Aviation recovery at risk from fuel prices ($FT)

Sri Lanka leader imposes state of emergency

United Kingdom takes Russian diesel delivery

U.S. MANUFACTURERS reported a less-widespread increase in business activity last month. The ISM composite index fell to 57.1 in March from 58.6 in February and the lowest reading since Sep 2020 as the expansion decelerates. There was also a sharp deceleration in new orders growth in March. The ISM new orders index slipped to 53.8 from 61.7 the month before, consistent with a slowdown in the business cycle ahead:

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Best in Energy – 29 March 2022

EU reviews link between electricity and gas prices

U.S./EU and the idea of a new Marshall Plan for energy

Rhine’s low water levels threaten diesel flows ($BBG)

Fertiliser prices surge as a result of war ($BBG)

Austin airport issues jet fuel alert ($BBG)*

* During the Second World War, Britain ordered inbound shipping to bunker overseas to conserve oil and coal for the war effort and reduce the number of tankers that needed to run the gauntlet of German submarine attacks in the Atlantic.

EU+UK GAS inventories hit a post-winter low of 291 TWh on March 19 according to preliminary estimates from Gas Infrastructure Europe. Stocks have since risen by around 8 TWh. The provisional post-winter low occurred on the earliest date since 2012 and fell 11-12 days earlier than the median for the last decade as a result of mild temperatures and exceptionally high prices discouraging consumption and attracting maximum imports:

EU+UK GAS inventories have depleted by 578 TWh over winter 2021/22. The drawdown compares with averages of 651 TWh over the previous five years and 561 TWh over the previous ten years. The post-winter minimum is the lowest since the winter of 2017/18. But it is only 81 TWh below the five-year average and 57 TWh below the ten-year average. Stocks have ended this winter low but not exceptionally so owing to mild weather and exceptionally high prices:

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Best in Energy – 21 March 2022

EU divided on whether to embargo Russian oil

India experiences run on retail diesel outlets

EU’s plan to refill gas storage risks price surge

EU’s short-term reliance on Russian gas ($FT)

Saudi Aramco says global oil market is very tight

U.K./Saudi summit and wider political relations

China civilian aircraft crashes with 132 on board

Economic sanctions – measuring effectiveness

Russia/Ukraine war enters attrition phase ($FT)

Russia/Ukraine war enters attrition phase ($WSJ)

China’s epidemic control in rural areas (trans.)

Sri Lanka’s rising energy bill risks default ($BBG)

BRENT futures open interest fell by a record 352 million barrels over the three weeks spanning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from February 22 to March 15, tumbling to the lowest level since August 2015, as prices spiked higher, volatility increased, margins rose and liquidity dried up:

COAL went from a marginal fuel used in a handful of local areas to become an essential part of England’s pre-industrial economy between 1500 and 1700 – well before the commonly accepted start of the industrial revolution in the later 18th century. By 1700, coal had replaced wood as the dominant fuel for domestic heating in London and most urban centres, and was the main fuel for all manufacturing, including glass-making, salt production, brewing, dyeing, and nonferrous smelting, with the notable exception of iron making:

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