Oil prices rose more than 7% Monday on news that the EU may join the U.S. in a Russian oil embargo, a measure with rising support from member nations.
In mid-morning trading today, WTI futures were down 2.0% at $109.90/bbl, Brent was down 1.0% at $114.50/bbl and U.S. natural gas was 3.1% higher at $5.05/MMBtu.
Europe has some of the highest gasoline prices in the world, with much of the continent paying upward of $6 a gallon as of last week.
The number of active U.S. oil rigs is up by 20% over the past six months.
Five hundred workers at a Chevron refinery in California went on strike Monday over a contract dispute.
A refinery operated by Norway’s Equinor was evacuated Monday after a fire broke out near the facility. Separately, an earthquake temporarily shut down one of the producer’s North Sea platforms.
Japanese coal plants are struggling to return online following last week’s earthquake, as officials warn of blackouts this week due to low power supplies.
Some Indian coal buyers are paying a premium of 340% above baseline prices at auction due to a supply crunch.
The U.S. government expects a rise in emissions from higher natural gas and petroleum use to offset gains from the long-term phaseout of coal power:
Supply Chain
Severe weather will hit Texas this week, with wildfires growing in the western part of the state and floods threatening the Houston area.
An index of U.S. warehouse inventory levels grew last month at its fastest recorded pace since data collection began six years ago, with retailers finally making headway in restocking.
The cost of goods imported into the U.S. rose 1.4% from January to February and 10.9% from a year earlier.
J.B. Hunt plans to grow its intermodal fleet to as many as 150,000 containers in the next five years, a 40% increase in concert with capacity growth at BNSF Railway.
China’s CATL, the world’s biggest maker of batteries for electric vehicles, is raising prices for its products by an unspecified amount to reflect higher raw material costs. The company expects carmakers to raise prices in tow.
Chinese smartphone shipments dropped more than 30% in February from a year earlier due to semiconductor shortages.
After quadrupling last year, prices for lithium are up nearly 95% since the start of 2022, with the global energy transition driving higher demand for the key battery component.
More supply chain news related to the war in Europe:
Taiwanese regional container carrier Wan Hai Lines will issue $2 billion in bonds to fund a fleet expansion.
Maserati said it plans to revamp its distribution strategy by fulfilling specific dealer orders instead of maintaining dealer inventories.
South Dakota culled 85,000 birds across two state facilities following an outbreak of bird flu, the first since 2015.
Domestic Markets
The U.S. reported 44,101 new COVID-19 infections and 1,472 virus fatalities Monday.
The CDC predicts that the BA.2 “stealth” subvariant of Omicron will soon become dominant in the U.S., while independent research suggests it already accounts for over 50% of cases:
The first of many expiring rounds of federal pandemic funding ends today, impacting mostly uninsured Americans and their ability to submit claims for viral testing and treatment. Yesterday, the White House renewed a push for Congressional approval for $22.5 billion in additional funding for pandemic programs.
New research suggests people infected with COVID-19 are 40% more likely than uninfected people to be diagnosed with diabetes after recovering.
California’s most expensive technology hubs saw some of the smallest gains in rental prices during the pandemic, according to the latest housing data.
A greater focus on flexible work arrangements has led to a significant rise in phased retirement programs, where workers reduce hours but keep parts of their salary and benefits.
Grocery store prices are up 8.6% from the same time last year, while most standard lunch items are up by double-digit percentages, according to payments company Square.
An unexplained outage shut down many of Apple’s most used services Monday, including digital applications, intra-company communications and some retail operations.
The first much-awaited Cadillac Lyriq, an electric crossover, rolled off the production line Monday as the automaker preps to build 200,000 of the vehicles per year.
Volkswagen is investing $7.1 billion to bring 25 new electric vehicles to the North American market by 2025, including a potential electric truck.
Mercedes says operations at its Alabama facility will be carbon-free by 2024.
The International Recycling Group announced plans to build a 25.5-acre site in Erie, Pennsylvania, that will sort mixed plastics and produce recycled HDPE, PET and PP pellets and flakes.
The U.K. reported over 226,000 new COVID-19 cases Monday, a record and some 37% higher than a week ago.
France is averaging 89,000 new COVID-19 cases per day, up from 60,000 a week ago after the nation eased all pandemic restrictions.
China reported over 2,281 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases yesterday, with the financial hub of Shanghai posting a record daily surge for the fifth day in a row.
South Koreans are turning to telemedicine, technically illegal in the country, as an alternative to overwhelmed hospitals, forcing the government to reconsider its healthcare policy.
Japan’s imports surged 34% in February on rising energy shipments.
India is banking on battery swapping stations rather than battery charging stations to boost uptake of electric-vehicle use.
Autonomous trucking startup TuSimple is prepping to sell its business in China to focus on the U.S. market.
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