Oil still trending down ($106.8.0 Brent), WTI discount to Brent now at $12/bbl.I have been talking all month about the widening driven by tightness in Brent and ample supplies in US. Brent has stayed strong this week on the drying up of Libyan exports. No such supply issues in the US where crude stocks have risen well above the 5-yr range causing the Brent-WTI spread to widen abruptly. Continue reading Commodities Update
Tag Archives: Politics
Commodities Update
Oil is flat and looking at a weak short term trend sliding between $105-110/bbl Brent.
The short term palliative of a deal in Washington to temporarily address the debt ceiling and budget overcame the potential longer-term implications of reports of constructive dialogue between Iran and the global powers in Geneva which has the potential, given the US’ positive reaction, to see sanctions eased. Clearly there is a long way to go to get to something substantive and Iranian exports will not recover quickly but fall in Iranian’s exports has compensated for poor demand growth and strong US production growth.
BBC Interview on the US debt ceiling
The Price of Corruption
“Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both “- Benjamin Franklin
I remember a few years ago in Italy, amid a corruption scandal, that a local politician was asked about an apartment in Rome that he had been given illegally, and he replied: “If I found out who it was that paid for the apartment, I will sue him”. This episode springs to my mind when I read about the scandals in Spain and the justifications from the side of different politicans. Continue reading The Price of Corruption