Oil prices slid 7% Thursday after the White House unveiled a plan to release 1 million bpd of strategic crude reserves each day for six months starting in May, the third release in the past half-year.
The 31 member nations of the International Energy Agency agreed to a coordinated release of emergency oil stockpiles without specifying volumes, joining the U.S. in tapping crude reserves to calm markets and ease price spikes.
In late-morning trading today, WTI futures were down 0.3% at $99.96/bbl and Brent was up 0.2% at $104.90/bbl, with each benchmark down about 11% for the week. U.S. natural gas was up 1.7% at $5.74/MMBtu.
South Africa is cutting its fuel tax by 40% for three months to quell rising prices, with lost revenues expected to be made up through a sale of strategic oil reserves.
Singapore is raising electricity prices by 10% over the next three months to help cover surging costs for gas imports.
CNOOC, China’s biggest offshore producer, hopes to garner $5.5 billion in a stock sale next month to fund more drilling.
Vitol Group, the world’s biggest independent oil trader, posted record net profits of just over $4 billion last year, up from $3.2 billion in 2020.
Supply Chain
The number of ships waiting to load or discharge at Shanghai’s port skyrocketed to more than 300 this week, a near fivefold increase in the past 2.5 weeks, according to VesselsValue.
There were 39 container ships awaiting berths at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach last week, fewer than 40 vessels for the first time since September of last year.
Container throughput at Canada’s Port of Vancouver rose 6% last year, including a 56% increase in empty outbound boxes.
Container volume at the Port of Houston was up 37% in February compared with February 2021.
Orders for new ships at Chinese shipyards fell 17% in January and February.
Labor negotiations between 22,000 West Coast dockworkers and their employers will begin May 12 ahead of contract expirations on July 1.
The Supreme Court temporarily blocked New Jersey from leaving the two-state agency that fights crime at the Port of New York and New Jersey.
Apple is exploring alternative chip suppliers, including its first potential supplier from China, after a batch of output from Japan’s Kioxia Holdings Corp. was contaminated last month and exposed weaknesses in the tech giant’s supply chain.
Ford and GM are suspending some Michigan production next week due to the continued shortage of computer chips. Across the globe, supply shortages are expected to slow vehicle sales to 12.7 million this quarter from 15 million the same time last year, according to J.D. Power.
The rise in diesel fuel prices could cost independent truckers up to $120,000 a year and cause increased bankruptcies.
The S&P GSCI, a benchmark tracking the prices of commodities futures from precious metals to livestock, climbed 29% in the first quarter, its biggest gain since 1990.
Self-driving startup Aurora Innovation will begin testing autonomous vehicles on a 600-mile route on one of the nation’s busiest freight thoroughfares between Forth Worth and El Paso.
The U.S. administration awarded $2.7 billion of last year’s historic infrastructure dollars to hundreds of new projects to improve ports and waterways, officials announced Tuesday.
More supply chain news related to the war in Europe:
The latest round of U.S. sanctions on Russia includes penalties on Mikron, Russia’s biggest chipmaker and largest exporter of microelectronics.
Titanium shortages stemming from lost Russian shipments are hurting Airbus’ ambitious expansion plans.
Domestic Markets
The U.S. reported 46,425 new COVID-19 infections and 755 virus fatalities Thursday. Hospitalizations are down 32% over the past two weeks.
Employers added 431,000 jobs in March, the 11th consecutive month of more than 400,000 new jobs, lowering the unemployment rate from 3.8% to 3.6%.
The U.S. Senate reached tentative agreement on a $10 billion package of additional pandemic relief funding.
A Fed-preferred gauge of U.S. inflation rose 5.4% in March from a year ago, the biggest jump in 40 years. Meanwhile, growth in consumer spending slowed to a sluggish 0.2% pace in February, down from 2.7% the previous month.
A new survey suggests New York City employees will spend 49% less time in the office post-pandemic and spend far less money in the city.
Shares of computer makers and suppliers, including AMD, HP and Dell, dropped sharply yesterday on fears that the pandemic boom in PCs will soon subside.
Electrolux introduced a new washing machine filter it asserts will capture 90% of microplastics released from synthetic clothing when laundered.
International Markets
COVID-19 hospitalizations in London are at a two-month high.
In a rare move, officials in Shanghai acknowledged that the city was not adequately prepared for its most recent surge of Omicron, as yesterday’s cases declined slightly from a mid-week high and officials locked down the remainder of the city this morning.
Despite a recent rise in COVID-19 infections, Germany plans to scale back its quarantine mandate for those infected, while the German parliament failed to pass a government proposal to impose a vaccine mandate.
Euro-area inflation surged past market expectations to 7.5% in March, the fifth straight monthly record driven by higher energy costs:
A purchasing managers index of eurozone manufacturing activity also was down in March, signaling slowing growth:
S&P Global forecasts a loss of up to $35 billion in the specialty insurance market due to fallout from the invasion, with at least half coming from leased aircraft taken over by Russian airlines.
A U.S. bill to strip Russia of its favored trade status has stalled in the Senate.
Russia’s Purchasing Managers Index slumped to 44.1 in March from 48.6 in February as economic sanctions take a bite from economic activity.
Electric vehicles were the main focus of the Bangkok International Motor Show this week, as surging fuel prices and a 15% government subsidy boost demand in Thailand.
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