Monthly Archives: January 2018

Tesla Begins Mass Production Of Solar Shingles

Tesla began manufacturing its solar powered shingles for mass market release, according to CEO Elon Musk’s Tuesday email reported by Bloomberg. Musk introduced the concept to industry leaders and brand fans last year. The shingles are topped with a strong glass that allows light to pass through to specially designed miniature solar panels, allowing homes… Read more »

Oil Prices Rise After API Reports Staggering Crude Oil Draw

The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a staggeringly large draw of 11.19 million barrels of United States crude oil inventories for the week ending January 5, marking six large draws in as many weeks, according to the API data. Analysts, had expected a much smaller drawdown of 3.89 million barrels in crude oil. Last week,… Read more »

China To “Deal Seriously” With Violators Of Oil Sanctions On North Korea

China’s government promised on Friday to “deal seriously” with people or companies that may have violated United Nations sanctions by illicitly delivering oil to North Korea. On Wednesday, South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported that Chinese shipping companies were dodging the UN sanctions on oil sales to North Korea by registering ships in third countries…. Read more »

Oil Price Rise Not Enough: Angola Ditches U.S. Dollar Peg

To offset the decline in its foreign currency reserves, OPEC member Angola—which relies on oil for 90 percent of government revenues—is ditching its currency peg to the U.S. dollar and will allow a more flexible exchange rate regime with the currency trading within a band. Since the oil price crash of 2014, Angola’s economy has… Read more »

Iranian Crisis Could Send Oil To $100

Oil prices started the year on a high note as some geopolitical tension pushed aside bearish concerns. Both WTI and Brent opened above $60 per barrel for the first time in years. The protests in Iran were the main driver of the bullish sentiment in the oil market. Anti-government demonstrations swept across the country in… Read more »

Oil-Rich Venezuela Is Out Of Gasoline

After lining up for an entire day to get a plane ticket to visit her relatives in the western city of Mérida, Josefina García did not know if she and her octogenarian mother were going to reach their final destination on time for Christmas. The airport is located 76 kilometers away from the city and… Read more »

Gas Wars: The First Energy Conflict In 2018

The eastern Mediterranean is expected to witness the first conflict of 2018, as developments at the end of 2017 are signaling worsening relationships between Turkey and the Greek Cypriot-Greece-Israel-Egypt bloc. Territorial disputes over natural gas and newly discovered hydrocarbon reserves in the eastern Mediterranean basin are the reason. Up until a few years ago, the hope was that… Read more »

Will Oil And Gold Prices Rise This Year?

Crude oil and gold prices both started the year on a firm footing, but are prices going to keep going up in 2018? Here’s what analysts said about the commodities. Oil prices expected to stay around $60, but could go as low as $30 Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) prices both opened above $60… Read more »