Commentary

July 10 2012 8:11 AM

Oil prices fell as Norway's government moves to halt a strike that could have shut down all of their oil output but a drop in commodity demand by China could signal more stimuli. In China imports of key industrial commodities were lower almost across the board last month when compared to a month earlier. Iron ore imports were down 9% from May. Crude oil imports fell 15% to a seven-month low. Copper shipments declined nearly 18% according to Dow Jones.

July 09 2012 7:24 AM

Round and round she goes who will act next no one knows QE or no QE that is the question. The EU meets in Brussels in the aftermath of Friday's pathetic US jobs report. Oil traders seem to believe that as bad as the data was somehow the rest of the world is still worse off and the odds of QE from the US while higher it will not give this market strong support. Even as threats from Iran and a labor strike in Norway is failing to provide support to a market that is facing up to the reality of ...

July 06 2012 9:59 AM

Oil supply may rise or fall like they did in yesterday's Energy Information Administration report. But what matters to oil more than anything else right now is the differing rate expectations as the EU and China cuts rates, the UK prints and the United States intentions are still a big question mark. No critics will point to the supply and demand numbers and claim that somehow the market has divorced itself from the fundamentals but by doing so, they really are ignoring the most important fun...

July 05 2012 9:31 AM

While tensions seem to be easing over Iran after their temper tantrum in the Straits of Hormuz, the oil market now is focused on growing tensions in the North Sea. These tensions do not involve a conflict between countries but a conflict between Norway's Statoil and Norway's oil labor union the oil industry association. While the strike has been going on for only 12 days, already it seems Statoil has had enough and said it would lockout all workers at midnight on Monday. That would essenti...

July 03 2012 9:05 AM

As the European embargo on Iranian oil takes effect, an Iranian lawmaker borrowing from none other than Thomas Jefferson said they have unalienable right to nuclear technology. Of course the quote was spelled inalienable which brings up a debate that has been going on since 1776 as to which is correct. But it brings up the question as to whether a rouge state has a right either unalienable or inalienable to pursue a weapon of mass destruction or does the world have are responsibility to ...

July 02 2012 9:19 AM

Once again the commodities can't wait for the Fourth of July to provide us with fireworks! Oil had its biggest up move in years as hope for a Euro zone solution and short covering as we get ready to start the second half of the year. Who wanted to be short into a weekend where it was apparent the Spanish and Italian banks were not going to fail. Add to that the beginning of the European sanctions and the Iranian oil embargo driving provocative comments from Iranian Admiral Al Fadavi as saying...

June 29 2012 9:18 AM

Yesterday it appeared that oil and health care have a lot more in common than you'd think. No, I am not talking about oil being used for medical purposes like it was in the old days but the impact on the price of oil after the surprise Supreme Court provision to uphold the Obama-care individual mandate. Chief Justice Roberts, in the majority opinion, held that the law was a valid exercise of Congress's power to tax. Roberts changed the debate over health care by basically saying that forci...

June 28 2012 8:55 AM

In another sign that we are seeing a major shift in the fundamentals of the US oil market yesterday's Energy Information Administration weekly Petroleum Status report provided more evidence for my prediction that US gasoline prices may have peaked forever. Refiners just rocked an abundance of relatively cheap crude supply drove refinery runs to 92.6% the highest level since July of 2007. For those of you keeping score that is before that financial crisis really began to break and gas demand i...

June 27 2012 8:05 AM

In recent days and weeks I have made some predictions about gasoline prices and how the high price that you paid this summer may end up being the highest price you will ever pay. I also said that you heard it here first in the Energy Report and soon others will be jumping on this bandwagon. Well one part of my multi faceted argument for that prediction was backed up nicely by none other than Harvard University.