The Oil Man: Andes Energia, Jersey Oil
5th January 2016 11:46
WTI $36.76 -28c, Brent $37.22 -6c, Diff -46c +8c, NG $2.33 n/c
Yesterday the oil price was all over the place, reacting to various market and international stories. There was an upward push on the back of the geopolitical worries concerning Saudi and Iran as various Middle East nations took their sides and most of the rest of the news pushed it down again. Amongst these were poor economic stats from China, where the market was suspended limit down under the new system; injection today has brought some stability.
The Gemscape report showed that stocks at Cushing were 480/- higher, which doesn't bode well for the inventory stats this week; forecasts from analysts are for a fall in crude stocks, but the little darlings have been way off the mark lately - maybe Santa brought them a calculator.
Finally, there is always something to take away from the US auto driver and this week is no exception. With gasoline down at just over two bucks a gallon, today's auto sales and those for the full year should be a record. If December is 1.7 million then the year will be 17.5 million, up 6%, the strongest on record.
Neatly following that will be the gasoline demand numbers, which went into free fall after 2007; if the numbers are anything like accurate, 2015 will nearly match that year and 2016 will at last break it, maybe even making around 9.3 million barrels per day or more, which will make a bit of a mockery of the dwindling fossil fuel demand…
Sundry
Very little company news around this morning; has announced that it paid back $1.5 million (£1 million) of the Macquarie debt yesterday and will pay the rest off by 29 February 2016.
, the old Trap assets, has sold its 50% stake in P1989 to Azinor Catalyst, who are picking up the other 50% and will meet the licence commitments of one well, which if successful will result in a modest payback to Jersey.
This seems a sensible enough deal to all sides; Azinor have been picking up some most interesting assets lately, gave two excellent presentations at the recent Oil & Gas Council event in London and are clearly the "new kids on the block", as it were.
JOG get a release from commitments and some exposure to any upside should the well come in. I have yet to meet the Jersey boys, although I know some of them from previous incarnations - if I do get a meeting I will maybe write up some more.
And finally…
The cricket seems to be petering to a draw and it seems that the Cape Town groundsman was given the same instructions as at Lords last summer, although in this case it was done to try and get a few SA batters back into form.
Over in the Big Bash, Chris Gayle mistook a pitch-side interview for a spot on Blind Date, which resulted in a A$10,000 (£4,885) fine…
Rafa has been given the El-Bow (geddit...) and Zidane takes over, bringing his experience of 16 career red cards - including one as a joker - to Real.
Back to reality and tonight its the Clueless Cup semi-final between Stoke City and the HubCap Stealers. Thank goodness I recorded the 1966 World Cup final on Sky last night, even has extra time in case it overruns in the Potteries…
This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise. The value of an investment may fall. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.
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