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Supply
Oil prices slid 4% on Wednesday, approaching six-month lows after U.S. data showed a rise in crude stocks last week.
In mid-morning trading today, WTI futures were down 3.0% at $87.97/bbl, Brent was down 3.3% at $93.63/bbl, and U.S. natural gas was down 1.4% at $8.15/MMBtu.
U.S. crude inventories unexpectedly rose by 4.5 million barrels last week as exports fell and refiners lowered runs. Gasoline stocks also posted a surprise build on waning demand.
Crude inventories are rising at the top U.S. storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, as the spread shrinks between WTI and Brent futures and U.S. export demand softens.
U.S. gas prices fell for a 50th day on Wednesday, with the national average declining 3 cents to $4.16 a gallon.
OPEC and its allies agreed to modestly raise production by 100,000 bpd in September, an amount equal to about 0.1% of global oil demand.
LNG volumes through the Panama Canal are down 30% since early June, when a fire shut down the U.S.’s second-biggest export facility run by Freeport LNG. Certain operations at the site can resume in October, according to U.S. regulators.
U.S. producer APA Corp saw second-quarter profit nearly triple to $926 million, while the firm bought more than $500 million of property in west Texas to expand its operations in the Permian basin.
U.S. producer Occidental plans to use its soaring earnings to accelerate debt payments and cash distribution to shareholders but will not raise oil production, the firm said.
Brigham Minerals, which owns the rights to extract oil and natural gas from land across numerous U.S. shale basins, is exploring a sale or merger, according to reports.
U.S. LNG exporter Cheniere Energy struck a 20-year supply agreement with Thai state-owned energy company PTT.
The U.S. power grid added 15 GW of new utility-scale electricity generation in the first half of 2022, with another 29 GW potentially coming online by the end of the year.
More oil news related to the war in Europe:
Natural gas prices in Europe eased Wednesday amid rising inventories and signs of reduced demand, while supplies from Russia remained steady at low levels.
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which connects Kazakh oil fields with Russian Black Sea ports, said supplies were significantly down on Wednesday but did not provide figures.
France will continue cutting nuclear generation as high temperatures make it difficult to cool reactors. EDF France, Europe’s biggest atomic producer and a net exporter of power, has begun importing.
Severe drought across California has pushed up the price of water by 56% since the start of the year, choking off supplies to cities and farms.
Intensifying heat in Texas will test the state’s power grid today with demand expected to top 80 GW for the first time ever.
China’s military exercises around Taiwan will disrupt supply chains through Sunday as shippers avoid Taiwanese ports and trade routes that pass through the area.
Commercial transport on Dutch rivers is at risk after weeks of drought prompted officials to declare a water shortage.
BNSF and Union Pacific have started metering containers out of Southern California to avoid another intermodal meltdown like last summer, but the move is causing some import boxes to sit for six weeks or longer.
Stanley Black & Decker announced plans to shrink its manufacturing footprint and slash its product portfolio by 40% as part of a multi-year, $1.5 billion cost-cutting program.
Maersk posted net profit of $8.6 billion in the second quarter, driven by “exceptional market conditions” in container shipping. The liner expects container demand to fall this year, however, as inventories pile up in warehouses.
July sales at Volvo fell 21.5% as supply chain problems continued to hamper production.
Geopolitics may delay a decision by China’s CATL, the world’s largest battery maker, to build production in North America, according to reports.
Electric vehicle maker Lucid Group slashed the number of vehicles it expects to make this year by half, citing supply chain and logistics challenges.
Albemarle Corp, the world’s largest producer of lithium for electric vehicle batteries, expects profit to surge 500% in its lithium division this year.
Carmakers are reporting lower demand in Europe and North America amid what analysts say is growing evidence that consumers are balking at high prices amid budget belt tightening.
China’s exports of electric vehicles to Western Europe and Southeast Asia more than doubled in the first half of the year.
Staple crop prices have tumbled in recent weeks to about where they were a year ago amid an exodus of speculative traders from the commodities market.
The London insurance sector is preparing to cover Ukrainian grain and fertilizer shipments through a secure corridor from the Black Sea in voyages that may need up to $50 million of cover per cargo.
Domestic Markets
The U.S. reported 119,034 new COVID-19 infections and 387 virus fatalities Wednesday.
First-time jobless claims rose by 6,000 last week to 260,000, the highest since November.
Federal Reserve officials are indicating support for a 50-basis-point interest-rate hike when they meet next month, down from the 75-point hikes at the central bank’s last two meetings.
The U.S. service sector unexpectedly picked up in July, according to the Institute for Supply Management. Meanwhile, a measure of prices paid by businesses dropped by the most since 2017, benefiting from falling commodity prices.
New orders for U.S.-manufactured goods rose 2% in June, while business spending was stronger than initially thought, according to the Commerce Department.
North American construction costs are between 5% and 11% higher than a year ago, impacting home construction and prompting some developers to stall or cancel big projects.
In the latest news from second-quarter earnings season:
Sales at Moderna rose 9%, while costs tied to a surplus of its COVID-19 vaccines contributed to a 21% profit decline.
Baltimore-based Under Armour lowered profit targets after price markdowns and high freight costs ate into earnings.
CVS Health Corp raised its full-year outlook after reporting an 11% rise in sales.
Allstate swung to a $1.04 billion loss as inflation drove up costs to repair and replace automobiles.
eBay topped quarterly estimates after its shift to selling more luxury products tempered the hit from slowing consumer spending.
Yum Brands, owner of Taco Bell and KFC, plans to double down on promotional offerings after its earnings missed estimates on rising costs for ingredients, labor and packaging, which pushed overall expenses up 4%.
The New York Times forecast a drop in ad revenue this quarter as brands cut back on spending in the face of an economic slowdown.
South Korea reported over 110,000 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, a three-month high.
The Bank of England raised interest rates by 50 basis points, the biggest hike in over 25 years.
Euro zone retail sales plunged 1.2% in June while factory gate prices continued to rise, according to new data. Euro zone business activity also contracted in July for the first time since early last year.
China’s services activity grew at the fastest rate in 15 months in July despite a dip in foreign demand and more companies cutting staff.
European budget carrier Ryanair flew a record 16.8 million passengers in July, putting it ahead of Lufthansa as Europe’s largest airline by passenger volume.
Japan’s Nintendo sold 23% fewer of its flagship Switch consoles in the latest quarter, a result of continued chip shortages.
Russian shoppers flocked to H&M after the retailer opened its doors for the last time in the country, offering steep discounts to get rid of inventory.
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