Oil Rally Hopes Crushed As Inventories Hit All-Time High
Oil prices sank on Thursday following fresh data showing oil and product stocks rising to an all-time high. The EIA released its weekly data on July 20, revealing a slight drawdown in crude oil inventories. Crude oil stocks were down 2.3 million barrels, posting the ninth straight week of declines and adding momentum to a slow but steady oil market balancing. Still, oil inventories stood at 519.5 million barrels as of mid-July, about 60 million barrels higher than year-ago levels. Combined, all U.S. crude oil and refined product stocks jumped to 2.08 billion barrels, an all-time high. This comes at a time of year when peak demand is supposed to draw down on inventories. Part of the increase came because gasoline stocks unexpectedly rose yet again, rising by 0.9 million barrels to 241 million barrels, the highest level since April. It was also the fourth weekly increase in five […]
In the early 21st century, just as in the late 19th, economics in general makes the assumption that individuals operate autonomously, isolated from the direct influences of others. A person has a fixed set of tastes and preferences; when choosing from a set of alternatives, he or she compares the attributes of those alternatives and selects the one which most closely corresponds to his or her preferences. At first sight, this may seem quite reasonable, or even ‘rational’, as economists describe this theory of behaviour. If I am interested in buying a product which many people want, I may have to pay a high price. So the choices other people make affect me indirectly through the workings of the market. My preferences, however, remain unaltered, according to this conventional view of economics.
According to Musk, the purchase is central to Tesla. He intends to create a single solar energy/battery storage system that can make people energy independent with a single purchase. "We can't do this well if Tesla and SolarCity are different companies," he argues, going on to say that both companies have reached the point where they're ready to scale production of their products, so the time is right.
The planes of the future will probably also look a lot like Boeing’s Dreamliner – composite materials, greater fuel efficiency, and of course modern amenities for passengers. Still energy investors should not be worried about the obsolescence of jet fuel anytime soon. The reality is that for all of the advances of battery technology, energy storage density is still extremely impractical for powering aircraft at this stage. Hydrogen fuel presents an alternative option – hydrogen was the fuel specified in Airbus’ Mach 4.5 aircraft patent filing – but hydrogen fuel is highly volatile and combustible.
BREXIT BOOM CONTINUES: Mortgage lending UP, retail sales SURGE and borrowing DOWN
Retail sales also received a boost in the second quarter of this year, which covers June’s historic vote to leave the European Union.
Figures showed public finances had the best June in nine years, as state borrowing came in at a lower than expected £7.8billion last month - a fall of £2.2billion from June last year - official figures revealed today.
Central government receipts were also up 4.2 per cent year-on-year, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed.
At the same time, mortgage lending last month was the best June performance since 2008, indicating the housing market remained in good health in the run-up to the referendum, figures from the Council of Mortgage Lending (CML) showed.
