Tag: central bank

Best in Energy – 22 September 2022

U.S/EU rivalry for high-energy industry ($WSJ)

South Korea reverts to coal generation ($BBG)

California relied on gas generation in heatwave

UAE oil firm explores Gunvor purchase ($BBG)

U.S./China banking and national security ($FT)

U.S. INTEREST RATE traders expect an imminent business cycle downturn is virtually certain and will be relatively severe. The U.S. Treasury yield curve between two-year and ten-year securities is more inverted than at any time since September 1981, when the economy was entering the second instalment of what proved to be double-dip recession. Like the early 1980s, the central bank finds itself forced to continue tightening monetary policy even as the economy weakens to bring inflation back under control:

LA NIÑA conditions are entering their third year, with sea surface temperatures in the central-eastern Pacific almost -1.0°C below the seasonal average last month:

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Best in Energy – 16 June 2022

U.S. central bank raises interest rate by +0.75%

US/EU concern about insurance sanctions ($FT)

White House complains about refining margins

U.S. refiners respond to president’s letter

EU/Russia gas flows fall sharply

Australia’s electricity market suspension

Australia appeals for power conservation

China to centralise iron ore buying ($FT)

Biden team divided over economy ($WSJ)

U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE increased its target range for the federal funds rate by +75 basis points to 1.50-1.75%, the largest increase since 1994. In real terms, monetary policy has become increasingly stimulative because inflation has risen faster than rates. The real interest rate had fallen to -5.25% in May 2022 compared with -3.75% in May 2021 and +0.38% in May 2019. The large rise was designed to signal the central bank’s determination to bring inflation under control as well as to start making real interest rates less stimulative:

U.S. PETROLEUM INVENTORIES including the strategic reserve depleted by -3 million bbl to 1,682 million bbl last week. Inventories have fallen in 75 of the last 102 weeks by a total of -435 million bbl since the start of July 2020. Stocks are at the lowest seasonal level since 2008:

U.S. DISTILLATE INVENTORIES rose by +0.7 million bbl to 110 million bbl last week. East Coast stocks increased by +1.2 million bbl to 27 million bbl. But total stocks remain -27 million bbl (-19%) below the pre-pandemic five-year seasonal average. Although inventories have started to accumulate seasonally the deficit is not narrowing because refineries cannot make enough fuel to rebuild stocks:

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Best in Energy – 14 April 2022

Global industrial metals inventories very depleted

China to stimulate consumer expenditure (trans.)

U.S. central bank tries to avoid hard landing ($FT)

China’s coal shipments hit by long delays ($BBG)

Oil traders set to reduce purchases from Russia

U.S. Haynesville gas production rises

Amazon adds fuel surcharges ($BBG)

U.S. PETROLEUM inventories including the strategic petroleum reserve rose +3 million bbl to 1,712 million bbl last week. Inventories have risen by a total of almost +5 million bbl in the two most recent weeks after declining by -81 million bbl over the previous twelve weeks:

U.S. DISTILLATE stocks fell by almost -3 million bbl to just 111 million bbl, the lowest for the time of year since 2008:

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[CHARTBOOK] Global financial conditions – 23 March 2022

Most global financial indicators are characterised by a lack of obvious stress at the moment

Markets are sanguine about the economic and financial impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Fed’s planned cycle of interest rate increases

U.S. central bank is expected to engineer a soft-landing rather than hard one, leading to a mild mid-cycle slowdown rather than a deep recession

Markets expect businesses, households and borrowers to absorb more than 200 basis points of U.S. interest rate increases without difficulty

If there is a cyclical slowdown, it is expected to be conventional downturn in growth, jobs and inflation rather than accompanied by a financial crisis

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and sanctions imposed in response have not so far resulted in a significant change to the outlook embodied in asset markets

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