Oil prices stayed flat Tuesday, but slipped in mid-morning trading today ahead of OPEC’s announcement on March output hikes. WTI was off 0.8% at $87.46/bbl and Brent was down 0.7% at $88.54/bbl, while U.S. natural gas surged 12.6% higher to $5.35/MMBtu.
The American Petroleum Institute reported a surprise crude draw of 1.645 million barrels this week after analysts expected a build of more than 1.8 million barrels.
The U.S. administration could raise the royalty rate drilling companies must pay on new oil and gas leases by 6% this quarter, according to a draft report.
Exxon Mobil and Chevron recently announced goals to significantly boost output from the U.S. Permian Basin.
Exxon Mobil posted its largest profit in seven years last quarter on a 2% rise in production from the same time a year ago. Most large Western oil companies are posting their highest profits of the pandemic.
Daily oil production out of Guyana is expected to rise threefold to 340,000 bpd this month as majors begin operations on a spate of new discoveries.
Despite record-high production, Russian gas exports slumped 41% the past month on a decrease in transit flows via Belarus and Ukraine.
A cyberattack on a German oil storage firm forced Shell to reroute supplies to alternative depots, disrupting its European supply chain.
A 1.6 GW nuclear reactor in Finland will finally come online in the first half of this year after numerous setbacks since construction began in 2009, bringing much needed energy supply to the European grid.
On-time performance for ocean carriers fell to a record low in December, new data shows.
Truck utilization rates hit 100% in both the second and the third quarters of 2021, freight data firm FTR said, meaning that every available truck and driver were in service.
A Canadian grocery chain says COVID-19 vaccine mandates for truckers have raised transportation costs but so far haven’t affected deliveries to stores.
Supply chain snarls could cost North American apparel and footwear brands between $9 billion and $17 billion in lost earnings this year, according to consulting firm Kearney.
Respect by the British public for truck drivers and logistics workers has grown sharply during the pandemic, a survey shows.
The Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Shanghai are partnering to create the world’s first “green” shipping corridor for zero- or low-carbon containership voyages.
Valuations for artificial intelligence supply chain startups are soaring as businesses look for ways to measure and manage sustainability metrics.
Japan’s Mitsubishi Shipbuilding created a marine decarbonization unit that the shipper hopes will speed up advancements in sustainable technology.
Sam’s Club is deploying inventory checking robots in all its U.S. stores to mitigate labor shortages impacting retailers.
Domestic Markets
The U.S. reported 398,914 new COVID-19 infections and 3,622 virus fatalities Tuesday.
At an average of 2,400 per day, COVID-19 fatalities in the U.S. are up 39% week over week to the highest level in a year even as case counts are down around 30%.
Highway deaths continued their pandemic surge last year, rising 12% during the first nine months of 2021, the biggest jump on record.
The U.S. national debt surpassed $30 trillion for the first time ever on Tuesday, years earlier than most economists expected following the pandemic’s surge in government borrowing.
while consumer spending is shifting from goods to services:
U.S. manufacturing growth fell for the third straight month in January, with the Institute for Supply Management’s gauge falling to 57.6, the lowest since November of 2020.
About 4.3 million Americans resigned in December, down slightly from November but still near record highs. Job openings, on the other hand, rose to 10.9 million for the month, near the all-time high of 11.1 million last July.
GM anticipates a sharp rise in electric vehicle demand after reporting its 2021 pretax profits rose by nearly 50% to a record level.
Ford unveiled a $20 billion roadmap to convert more factories into electric vehicle production sites over the next decade.
Tesla will recall 53,822 vehicles with full self-driving software due to a defect that may not allow the car to come to a complete stop at intersections.
Starbucks reported mixed quarterly earnings as labor costs, inflation and supply chain snarls weighed on sales. The coffee retailer is expected to continue raising prices to offset higher expenses, while employees at more than 50 locations are attempting to unionize.
International Markets
More COVID-19 cases were reported globally in the last 10 weeks than in all of 2020.
Britain’s COVID-19 fatalities since the start of the pandemic surpassed 180,000, while breakthrough infections now account for 10% of the nation’s new virus cases.
South Korea reported more than 20,000 new COVID-19 cases for the first time yesterday.
Rising numbers of COVID-19 cases from untraceable contacts in Hong Kong are worrying officials.
South African officials say 80% of the nation’s population has been infected with COVID-19.
The majority of new COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals in British Columbia, Canada, tested positive for the virus only as a side result of a different diagnosis that brought them in.
Our Healthcare team has published a revised Medical Resin Selection Booklet containing additional resins, new focus grades and new 3D printing resins.
M. Holland’s 3D Printing group offers a rapid response alternative for producing selected parts where resin availability is tight. For more information, email our 3D Printing team.
Market Expertise: M. Holland offers a host of resources to clients, prospects and suppliers across nine strategic markets.
For all COVID-19 updates and notices, please refer to the M. Holland website.