Oil prices could hit an ‘off the charts spike,’ says strategist

Published

3 years ago

October 6, 2021

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Oil prices could experience an “off the charts spike” as winter approaches and OPEC and its allies stick to their earlier pact on oil output, a strategist told CNBC.

OPEC+ — the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, with their allies including Russia — have been under pressure from top consumers, such as the United States and India, to add extra supplies after oil prices surged 50% this year.

However, the oil cartel agreed on Monday to stick to an existing pact to hike oil output by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) in November, shrugging off calls to pump more oil.

What I think [is] more concerning to everyone out there … what happens during the winter? Are we going to have another Arctic freeze?

John Driscoll

JTD Energy Services

John Driscoll, chief strategist at JTD Energy Services, said the decision by OPEC+ was a “very prudent course of action” until one considers the ongoing energy crises and possible supply disruptions.

“What I think [is] more concerning to everyone out there … what happens during the winter? Are we going to have another Arctic freeze?” Driscoll told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Tuesday.

He pointed to the shortage of fuel in the U.K. — with long queues of cars waiting to buy gas, as well as “fist fights.” In the U.K., people have been panic buying fuel, causing shortages, as well as straining the fuel supply chains.

BURY ST EDMUNDS, SUFFOLK, UNITED KINGDOM – 2021/09/25: People filling their cars up at BP petrol station during the fuel crisis in Bury St Edmunds.

SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images

“When you get into winter, what you really have to worry about is this non-discretionary demand,” Driscoll said. Non-discretionary demand refers to essential spending for daily goods and services.

Driscoll said what’s especially worrying is a thin inventory, or if there’s “any kind of supply chain glitch.”

Supply chains have been strained by the panic buying of fuel in Britain, and is due in part to a major lack of truck drivers due to Brexit and the U.K.’s new trading relations with the EU. It’s led the U.K. to resort to bringing in the army to deliver fuel.

“You could see an off the charts spike — that is one scenario out there,” said Driscoll, of oil prices. “I don’t really hear anybody talking about the prospects of a mild subdued winter. I think, given all the uncertainty over weather and climate change, we could be in for a wild ride here.”

Oil prices hit a three-year high after the OPEC+ decision. Brent was last at $82.47 per barrel on Wednesday morning during Asia hours, and WTI was at $78.84.

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But energy prices were already surging this year, with crude jumping more than 50% year-to-date, adding to inflationary pressures.

Oil at $100?

Oil prices jumping to $100 per barrel is possible, but it’s not one that is sustainable, Driscoll said.

“I see that as kind of a lower probability scenario. That is, if everything goes wrong, if we have Arctic weather, if we’ve got glitches, breakdowns in the deliverability, the supply chains. That is a possible scenario but I don’t see that likely to be sustainable,” he said.

Driscoll also pointed to the energy crisis in China, which led to widespread disruptions as local authorities ordered power cuts at many factories.

As the country grapples with the energy shortage, the demand for natural gas and coal has spiked as Beijing ordered energy companies to ensure sufficient supplies to avoid outages during winter, according to Reuters.

Over in Europe, the region is also grappling with its own power crisis with a massive gas crunch.

That confluence of crises resulting in a gas shortage is set to boost demand for oil, ahead of what’s expected to be a colder winter, analysts have warned.

— CNBC’s Sam Meredith and Chloe Taylor contributed to this report.

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Cartoonish Tesla crashes, Toyota battery deals, and new Chinese hotness

Published

6 hours ago

March 18, 2025

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Cartoonish Tesla crashes, Toyota battery deals, and new Chinese hotness

ACME stock soars on today’s cartoonishly silly episode of Quick Charge, we watch Tesla Autopilot crash into a wall with a painting on it, make the Elon stans look silly when they point out shady behavior from their fearless leader, and toss out the notion that some franchise dealers might help the troubled EV brand make more sales in red states.

We also cover Toyota as it moves to position itself for global battery dominance by suppling batteries to more than 400,000 electrified Honda vehicles per year, plus an upgraded Xpeng G6 electric SUV that makes everything on this side of the Pacific look positively plebeian. All this and more, enjoy!

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New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news.

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Tesla already starts to offer 0% interest on new Model Y in China – showing weak demand

Published

6 hours ago

March 18, 2025

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Tesla already starts to offer 0% interest on new Model Y in China – showing weak demand

Tesla has already started offering 0% APR on loans for the new Model Y in China, showing a clear sign of weak demand.

We recently reported that Tesla is under increased pressure from competition in China, the world’s largest EV market.

The Tesla Model 3 was recently surpassed in sales by the Xiaomi SU7 in a record short period from starting production. The SU7 not only outsells Model 3 in China, but Xiaomi’s electric sedan has a 31-34-week-long order backlog compared to just 1-3 weeks for Tesla’s.

Last month, Tesla started offering a new RMB 8,000 ($1,100 USD) insurance subsidy and 0% loans on new Model 3 orders.

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Tesla didn’t apply these same offers to new Model Y orders because Tesla enjoyed more demand for the vehicle due to the launch of the Model Y refresh, and the production launch limited the supplies.

However, we also noted that reports of more than 200,000 orders for the new Model Y were exaggerated and the current delivery timelines pointed to soft demand for the new Model Y.

We noted that a good indication of when Tesla is running out of the backlog of orders, which was opened in January, for the newly delivered vehicle would be if Tesla brings back financing incentives on the Model Y.

Today, Tesla announced that it was bringing back the 0% interest loans on the base version of the new Model Y:

The Model Y RWD is by far Tesla’s best-selling car in China and Tesla is now offering up to 3 years at 0% for a 30% down payment and some discounted rates for a smaller down payment.

The incentive starts now and up to April 30. Tesla wrote:

If you purchase a Model Y rear-wheel drive version from March 18, 2025 to April 30, 2025 and pick up the car before the order expiration date according to the delivery and payment terms in the order, eligible customers can apply for the following financial preferential plans:

Tesla currently quotes “2-4 weeks” as a delivery timeline for new orders for the new Model Y RWD, and 6-10 weeks for Long Range AWD.

The Long Range appears to enjoy a bit more demand. Tesla even slightly increased the price by RMB 10,000 yuan ($1,380).

Electrek’s Take

It’s important to consider that Tesla is believed to be selling a mix of RWD vs AWD around 3 to 1 or even 4 to 1. Therefore, any change in pricing and subsidized loans to the Short Range RWD would have a massive impact on Tesla.

I have to say, I’m surprised. I suspected Tesla would have some issues selling the new Model Y in the second half of the year after some excitement for the new version wore off and competition like the Xiaomi YU7 would arrive, but I didn’t think it would come so fast.

Even if this is because Tesla was able to ramp up production of the new version faster, which could mean more deliveries in Q1, the fact that they are already discounting them is a terrible sign of demand.

I didn’t have high hopes for Tesla’s prospects in China in 2025, but even I thought this would not come for another 3-5 months.

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Trump’s World Liberty Financial crypto project says it sold $550 million in tokens

Published

8 hours ago

March 17, 2025

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Trump's World Liberty Financial crypto project says it sold 0 million in tokens

The World Liberty Financial website arranged on a smartphone in New York, US, on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.

Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images

President Donald Trump’s World Liberty Financial crypto project said on Monday that it raised $250 million in its second token sale, bringing the total amount of coins sold to $550 million.

WLFI, a venture backed by the first family that describes itself as a sort of crypto banking platform, launched in October, weeks before Trump’s election victory. In a document published at the time of launch, WLFI said the Trump family could take home 75% of net revenue.

In Monday’s release, WLFI said more than 85,000 participants underwent so-called know-your-customer verification to gain access to the token sale. Co-founder Zach Witkoff, son of billionaire U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, is quoted in the release as saying that “WLFI is on track to supercharge DeFi,” or decentralized finance.

In January, Tron blockchain founder Justin Sun upped his stake in WLFI tokens to $75 million. A court filing the following month showed that Sun and the SEC were exploring a resolution to the regulator’s civil fraud case against the crypto entrepreneur.

WLFI is one of several crypto projects in the Trump family that are kicking off just as the president is pushing a crypto-friendly agenda. Earlier this month, President Trump signed an executive order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.

According to a memo from the White House last week, David Sacks, the Trump administration’s AI and crypto czar, sold over $200 million worth of digital asset-related investments personally and through his firm, Craft Ventures, before starting the job. Sacks said in a podcast that he “didn’t want to even have the appearance of a conflict.”

At the end of February, the SEC declared that meme tokens are not securities. The announcement came after the president and First Lady Melania Trump launched their own meme coins in the days leading up to the inauguration.

WATCH: Trump’s bitcoin reserve leaves crypto investors disappointed