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MORNING ENERGY NEWS | 10/19/2020
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** That's all folks.
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Wall Street Journal ([link removed]) (10/18/20) column: "Joe Biden has shrewdly kept the campaign focus on Covid-19 and President Trump, which has helped him avoid having to talk much about his own policies. That’s especially true of his economic proposals, which a new study out Sunday from the Hoover Institution shows will have a damaging impact on growth, job creation and household income. Mr. Biden often cites Moody’s, the credit-rating service, for saying his economic plan will yield faster growth and more jobs. 'Wall Street,' he likes to say when he mentions Moody’s, as if that’s a conservative stamp of approval, even as he claims Mr. Trump is a captive of Wall Street. But everyone knows most economists at today’s big financial institutions have a Keynesian bias that posits consumer demand and government spending as the main drivers of growth. That’s certainly true at Moody’s, whose chief economist is Mark Zandi,
who in our view underestimates the impact of higher tax rates and regulation in his economic calculations. This isn’t a personal criticism, but a factual statement about his economic model."

[link removed]


** "America has been given a choice of competing visions for the future. Vice President Pence represents the hope of freedom and opportunity in line with the DNA of America. California Senator Harris represents the failed Marxist philosophy that impoverishes and enslaves people wherever it is tried in the world."
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– Rick Manning, Americans for Limited Government ([link removed])

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That car ban is looking pretty dicey right about now.

** E&E News ([link removed])
(10/16/20) reports: "California's ban on selling alligator products probably violates federal laws and the state cannot enforce it while various legal challenges remain in court, a federal judge has ruled. The state of Louisiana and companies in California, Florida and Texas are suing California over its decision to ban the import and sale of alligator products, saying the ban will hurt an important industry and ultimately could hurt alligator and crocodile populations. 'We are encouraged by the court's decision. We know this is the first step and not the last. But it gives Louisiana's vital alligator industry the ability to continue operating in California and beyond,' Bill Hogan, chair of the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, said in an emailed statement. Companies that make and use alligator and crocodile leather and ranchers in Louisiana and Florida had filed suit Dec. 10 against the 2019 law, and Louisiana landowners had joined the state commission in another filed Dec. 12.
Chief District Judge Kimberly Mueller of California's Eastern District consolidated them in Wednesday's order against enforcement."

Thank God for CO2 fire extinguishers!

** Wall Street Journal ([link removed])
(10/19/20) reports: "Auto makers are confronting a new challenge in their race to sell more electric cars: battery-related fires leading to vehicle recalls and safety probes. U.S. safety regulators this month opened a probe into more than 77,000 electric Chevy Bolts made by General Motors after two owners complained of fires that appeared to have begun under the back seat, where the battery is located. Ford Motor Co. said last week it is delaying the U.S. introduction of its Escape plug-in hybrid after fire concerns surfaced this summer in similar vehicles sold in Europe. Also, in recent weeks, Hyundai Motor Co. and BMW have initiated world-wide recalls to address problems with battery fires in plug-in models. GM, Ford and Hyundai said that they are still investigating the fires’ causes and looking into possible remedies, and that safety is their primary concern. BMW said that most of the cars affected hadn’t yet been sold to customers.

BoJo is blowing it. Great Britain is fixing to become the California of Europe.

** This Is Money ([link removed])
(10/15/20) reports: "Britain's electricity could be in short supply over the next few days because of a lack of wind. Electricity grid operator National Grid warned 'unusually low wind output' and a series of power plant outages would squeeze the network until early next week, leaving it with less back-up power than normal. National Grid said it would 'make sure there is enough generation' to prevent blackouts. But the warning will also put pressure on the Government to invest in other power sources in addition to wind, which can be unreliable. Last night National Grid said there was 'adequate' power for today and that it would keep monitoring the situation over the weekend...The UK has more offshore wind capacity than any other country – and power produced from the sector charges the equivalent of 4.5m homes each year. The ECIU reported that a number of gas plants, such as Cowes on the Isle of Wight and Shoreham, West Sussex, as well as a biomass plant in Lynemouth in Northumberland and at
least one coal-operated plant, had seen generator failures."

Remember all that talk about how the virus was going to end vehicular travel as we know it? Well they were right - just not in the way the baddies hoped.

** Axios ([link removed])
(10/19/20) reports: "The coronavirus pandemic is systematically demolishing the entire concept of efficiency. Using energy more efficiently accounts for the largest share — nearly 40% — of the reductions in heat-trapping emissions needed to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. The virus, almost by design, hates efficiency of all kinds, energy included. Public transit, where a bunch of people move together in one vehicle, is the pinnacle of efficiency. Its use has plummeted and stayed down. In-person school features an efficient teacher/kid ratio of (roughly) 1:23. Ad hoc virtual school has a grossly inefficient ratio closer to 1:1. It’s also, of course, deeply disruptive to parents. Single-use plastic, by definition not efficient and wasteful, is coming roaring back amid fears that the virus is lurking on reusable menus, bags and cups. Where it stands: Overall electricity use in America was actually up slightly in July compared to the year before, according to a new working
paper by Tufts University economist Steve Cicala. That’s because residential energy use is higher with more remote work than it was the same time last year, offsetting the declines in industrial and commercial sectors. (On a yearly basis, power usage is still expected to be down 2.2%.). Remote work on some level is likely to stick around permanently, resulting “in a mixed format where both offices and homes are simultaneously drawing power,” writes Cicala, who is also a non-resident scholar at the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago. Meanwhile, driving, which plummeted as lockdowns took over in April and May, is pretty much back to normal. People are still commuting to work less, but they appear to still be driving (somewhere)."
** ([link removed])

Energy Markets


WTI Crude Oil: ↑ $40.98
Natural Gas: ↓ $2.69
Gasoline: ↓ $2.16

Diesel: ↓ $2.37
Heating Oil: ↓ $117.25
Brent Crude Oil: ↑ $42.98
** US Rig Count ([link removed])
: ↑ 326



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