Oil prices jumped over 5% Wednesday on the potential loss of 1.2% of daily global capacity after a storm damaged Black Sea pipelines owned by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium. Officials said the group’s oil supplies could be completely stopped for up to two months.
In mid-morning trading today, WTI futures were down 1.4% at $113.40/bbl, Brent was off 1.6% at $119.70/bbl and U.S. natural gas was up 0.1% at $5.24/bbl.
U.S. crude stocks fell a surprise 2.5 million barrels last week on higher demand, government data showed, with production remaining flat at 11.6 million bpd for the seventh straight week.
A Federal Reserve index of oil and gas activity in Texas, Louisiana and New Mexico rose to 56 in the first quarter from 42.6 the previous quarter, marking the highest reading since the survey began six years ago.
California’s governor is proposing to send direct payments of $400 per vehicle to state residents to help offset higher fuel prices. Calls for similar measures are rising in Congress.
U.S. gasoline prices averaged $4.24 a gallon last week, an 8 cent decline from the previous week’s record:
Russia is attempting to make “unfriendly” nations buy its gas in rubles rather than euros, although it is unclear if the country has unilateral power to make the switch.
Container spot rates fell 4%-5% last week from Asia to North European and Mediterranean markets, leading some shipping lines to cancel sailings.
DHL closed a $1.65 billion deal yesterday to acquire J.F. Hillebrand Group, an international ocean logistics provider specializing in beverage and bulk liquid shipments.
General Mills raised its full-year guidance on projections of higher demand for packaged goods including cereal, snack bars and pet foods.
Global lithium-ion battery production capacity will remain tight this year but could rise as much as fivefold by the end of the decade on high demand from automakers, Wood Mackenzie predicts.
Nvidia’s pipeline of deals with auto customers jumped by more than one-third over the past year to $11 billion, suggesting booming demand for automation in cars.
Nike’s revenue jumped 5% in the quarter ending Feb. 28 to $10.87 billion, surpassing market expectations with all its Vietnam factories reopened and fully operational.
More supply chain news related to the war in Europe:
Cargo-ship departures from Russian ports are down 35% since late February, largely from lost grain shipments.
Trading giant Trafigura Group doubled the size of its credit facility with banks to over $2 billion, as volatile moves in oil, natural gas and metals continue tying up huge amounts of cash.
The U.S. reported 40,987 new COVID-19 infections and 1,617 virus fatalities Wednesday.
Moderna will seek authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine in children as young as six months old following positive results from a recent clinical trial, the firm said.
More than $20 billion in federal pandemic rental assistance had been allocated at the end of January, new data shows.
First-time jobless claims last week fell by 28,000 to 187,000, the lowest level since 1969.
Americans over age 65 have been the slowest to increase spending habits during the pandemic, a trend expected to reverse sharply in the coming months.
U.S. auto sales could fall as much as 28% this month from a year ago on the combined effects of inflation and production shortfalls, J.D. Power predicts.
U.S. new home sales fell 2% in February, the second consecutive month of decline, as high prices and rising mortgage rates took more buyers out of the market.
Searches about electric vehicles on Edmunds.com jumped 84% in early March from the same time last month, as rising fuel costs lead more Americans to electric vehicles.
Apple has held preliminary discussions about potential joint projects with sports-car maker Porsche.
Russia has transferred over 50% of foreign-leased aircraft to its own registry in contravention of international regulations, with the bill rising for the U.S. Export-Import Bank that covers lessors for expropriated aircraft.
Hong Kong is ending a ban on flights from certain countries, halving hotel quarantine requirements for arriving travelers, and reducing social distancing measures. The island also put its universal testing plans on indefinite hold.
An Italian study suggests proper building ventilation can reduce the transmission of COVID-19 in schools by as much as 82%.
British inflation is up to a 30-year high of 6.2% so far in March, prompting officials to reduce income taxes, double energy subsidies for households and implement the nation’s largest ever tax cut on auto fuel.
An index of European manufacturing activity is at its lowest level in 14 months:
Japanese consumer prices rose a smaller-than-expected 0.2% in February, the fifth straight monthly rise, as lawmakers assemble a new stimulus package to help ease food and fuel costs.
LG Energy Solution will invest $1.5 billion in a joint venture with Stellantis to start producing electric vehicle batteries in Canada by 2024. Separately, Stellantis is pairing up with Mercedes-Benz and TotalEnergies on a new battery plant in Italy.
Volkswagen plans to put $7 billion into expanding electric-vehicle battery production in Spain, including possible construction of a new plant outside Valencia that could include Ford as a partner.
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