Energy markets began the day lower than where things closed yesterday, but pricing has come back as the day has worn on, with WTI now up roughly $1/bbl. The culprit appears to be another attack by Houthi rebels on a Saudi Aramco facility, this time in Jeddah.
I am not one for conspiracy theories…but has anyone ever wondered if the Saudi’s are ‘OK’ with something like this considering how it can push up the price of oil, ESPECIALLY at times like right now where world oil supplies are as tight as they have been in 40+ years? No? Just me? OK…moving on…
That transition to electric vehicles is hitting a bit of a snag…as lithium prices are soaring and EV battery makers are hiking their prices by roughly 25%. That speaks nothing to the ecological damage that takes place as we mine the earth for the products that go into EV batteries and the like…but hey, less carbon!
The Biden administration is considering another 30M/bbl release from the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, in order to combat rising energy prices. That is akin to putting a band-aid on a compound fracture, as it’s simply not a long term solution to the problem facing the US, as well as the rest of the world right now. The only thing that can seemingly stave off prices of everything going a great deal higher is if Russia and Ukraine can strike some type of peace agreement. There is some chatter this morning that such talks are continuing, but we have seen that type of chatter for the past several weeks.
