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MORNING ENERGY NEWS  |  02/03/2020
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The world according to notable "scientist" Jerry Brown....


Townhall (1/30/20) column: "From 1947 to today, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, keepers of the 'doomsday clock'—a holdover from the atomic age and Cold War—has predicted doom by moving the hands of a prop clock closer to or further away from midnight. Midnight represents a global doom disaster in progress. In a breathless press release on January 23, which included a cameo from former California governor and climate activist Jerry Brown, the group announced that due to 'climate change' the world is 20 seconds closer to midnight, standing at 100 seconds (1 minute 40 seconds) before midnight...In essence, they are saying nuclear war and climate change are equivalent threats. Such a comparison is mind-bogglingly ridiculous...Because all governments don’t sense an 'emergency' and have not pulled the plug on electricity grids powered by fossil fuels, the Atomic Scientists are in despair. They would actually like us to believe that we are presently in more danger of global apocalypse than during the Cuban Missile Crisis."

"Dangerous rivalry and hostility among the superpowers increases the likelihood of nuclear blunder. Climate change just compounds the crisis. If there’s ever a time to wake up, it’s now."

 

– Jerry Brown,
Perennial Prophet of Doom

Early spring for us. Two more years of misery for New Yorkers.


Washington Post (2/2/20) reports: "For many in the Lower 48, it’s been a year without a winter. Temperatures have stayed well above average, while snow has been scarce. The calendar says it’s the season’s midpoint, but will winter finally take control during its second half or remain in hibernation? According to groundhog Punxsutawney Phil, it’s the latter, and we’ll have an early spring. Just after 7:25 a.m. Sunday, with a record crowd on hand to witness the spectacle, Phil emerged from his den in Punxsutawney, Pa., amid a steady light snow and temperatures near 30 degrees, The marmot did not see his shadow, signifying early spring, according to folklore. Had he spotted his shadow, it would have meant six more weeks of winter. Since his first prediction in 1887 through this year, Phil has seen his shadow 104 times, while he has failed to spot it on just 20 occasions...The track record of Phil’s more recent predictions, however, is a disaster. In each of the last three years, the furry critter has missed the mark. Last year, he couldn’t find his shadow and made a rare call of 'early spring,' but then it was unmistakably cold. 'In fact, the contiguous US saw below average temperatures in both February and March of last year,' wrote the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration."

As they say in Fargo...


Wall Street Journal (1/30/20) reports: "Hours after Microsoft Corp. pledged to eliminate its carbon emissions within a decade earlier this month, the company was forced to fire up fossil fuel generators to power its corporate campus in Fargo, N.D. The software giant ran the diesel-burning machines for about five hours to keep the lights and heat on for 1,600 employees. It is one of about 100 big companies in the Fargo region ordered to do so by the local electric cooperative, which faced high demand for power. Microsoft receives a significant discount on its electricity rates in exchange for using backup power a few times a year...Microsoft has had a presence in Fargo since it acquired Great Plains Software Inc. in 2001, and it has substantially expanded over the years. Its campus south of downtown is served by Cass County Electric Cooperative, which in turn gets its electricity from Minnkota Power Cooperative. Based in Grand Forks, Minnkota generates two-thirds of its electricity from two large coal-burning plants. It is considering a $1 billion investment to capture carbon emissions at its largest coal plant and inject them underground, an idea made more financially feasible as a result of a new federal tax credit."

American ingenuity and the shale revolution have changed the energy landscape forever.


Bloomberg (2/1/20) reports: "Everyone from environmentalists to investors is beating up on fossil fuels, and American energy giants Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. are taking increasingly diverging approaches as they try to weather the storm. The problem is, neither strategy is working right now. Exxon is using the downturn in oil, gas and chemical prices as an opportunity to unleash its giant balance sheet to fund a slew of mega-projects around the world. Chevron is sticking with austerity -- to such an extent that Chief Executive Officer Mike Wirth admitted he sounds like 'a broken record' repeating a mantra of financial discipline. The companies posted their worst results in years on Friday, dragged down by weak performance across most business lines. The origin of much of their current problems can be traced back to America’s shale revolution, which in little over a decade ended a domestic shortage of oil and gas and created a seemingly limitless source of supply, pushing energy prices lower."

Reality check.


The Times (1/31/20) reports: "How do you respond when placard-waving students occupy your 15th-century quadrangle and refuse to leave until you sell the college’s shares in oil companies? As this is Oxford, naturally you present them with a philosophical dilemma. Two students at St John’s College wrote to Andrew Parker, the principal bursar, this week requesting a meeting to discuss the protesters’ demands, which are that the college 'declares a climate emergency and immediately divests from fossil fuels.' They say that the college, the richest in Oxford, has £8 million of its £551 million endowment fund invested in BP and Shell. Professor Parker responded with a provocative offer. 'I am not able to arrange any divestment at short notice,' he wrote. 'But I can arrange for the gas'"

Energy Markets

 
WTI Crude Oil: ↑ $51.57
Natural Gas: ↑ $1.87
Gasoline: ↓ $2.47
Diesel: ↓ $2.94
Heating Oil: ↑ $161.13
Brent Crude Oil: ↓ $56.27
US Rig Count: ↓ 820

 
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