Mid-Week Review

Summary by Wayne Lee

How US sanctions on Venezuela are rippling through oil markets

US sanctions on Venezuela’s national oil company have accelerated the unprecedented collapse of its oil output and set off a domino effect in the global energy market. The sanctions, which were announced on January 28 in a bid to speed up Nicolas Maduro’s exit, have sent US Gulf Coast refineries scrambling to find alternate sources for the heavy crude they once relied on from Venezuela. And Venezuela, which as of last fall was the No. 4 crude importer to the United States behind only Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico, has been forced to find new customers and new ways to dilute its very heavy crude to ready it for export.

Trade wars like Trump’s threaten U.S. oil and gas exports

Escalating trade wars could limit America’s rise as an oil and natural gas exporter while further boosting renewable energy use in some countries, BP’s latest long-term energy outlook finds. Surging shale production — combined with growing LNG and crude export infrastructure — is making the U.S. a player in global export markets. The Energy Department sees the U.S. becoming a net exporter in 2020.

The U.S. Shale Oil Boom Is About To Get A Major Upgrade

The U.S. shale oil boom is about to get a whole lot bigger. The reason: Giant oil companies like Exxon Mobil (XOM) are leveraging their massive scale to unleash more production from the top-producing shale oil formation. Remember the shale boom’s early days? Back then, swashbuckling wildcatters and other innovative risk-takers led the charge. The oil majors sat out the boom at first and instead poured billions of dollars into megaprojects overseas. But all that has changed. Now the major oil companies are turning their immense resources toward Texas. And they are positioning themselves to take full advantage of their vertical integration.

ATA Truck Tonnage Index Increased 2.3% in January

Trucking tonnage increased in January, following two months of decline to end 2018. However, demand is expected to decelerate for the rest of the year amid an overall slowing of the US economy.