U.S. crude oil falls below per barrel, extends sell-off to trade near nine-month low

U.S. crude oil falls below $70 per barrel, extends sell-off to trade near nine-month low

Published

2 months ago

September 4, 2024

admin

A view of the pipelines at Zueitina oil terminal, in west of Benghazi, Libya February 3, 2020. Picture taken February 3, 2020.

Esam Omran Al-fetori | Reuters

U.S. crude oil fell more than 1% on Wednesday, tumbling below $70 per barrel and raising speculation that OPEC+ could delay production increases scheduled to begin next month.

The U.S. benchmark hit a low of $69.19 earlier in the session, the lowest level since Dec. 13, after plunging more than 4% on Tuesday. U.S. crude and global benchmark Brent have erased all gains for 2024.

“With demand growth uncertain and significant supply outages looking unlikely, all eyes are again on OPEC+,” Svetlana Tretyakova, senior analyst at Rystad Energy, said in a note Wednesday. “Until OPEC+ clarifies its strategy, overall bearishness will persist.”

Here are Wednesday’s energy prices:

West Texas Intermediate October contract: $69.33 per barrel, down $1.01, or 1.44%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil has fallen 3.1%.
Brent November contract: $72.82 per barrel, down 93 cents, or 1.26%. Year to date, the global benchmark has declined 5.4%.
RBOB Gasoline October contract: $1.95 per gallon, down more than 2 cents, or 1.37%. Year to date, gasoline has pulled back about 7.2%.
Natural Gas October contract: $2.21 per thousand cubic feet, little changed. Year to date, gas is 12.2% lower.

Oil prices have been under pressure after weak manufacturing activity in the U.S. and China reignited worries about an economic slowdown. Equity markets also sold off Tuesday, with the S&P 500 booking its worst day since the early August rout.

“The China story has been the big headwind for oil this year,” Helima Croft, global head of commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.” “It has been underwhelming Chinese demand — we’ve seen it in terms of lower imports, lower refinery utilization rates.”

Meanwhile, OPEC+ has plans to increase oil production in October, and a deal to resolve a political dispute in Libya could end disruptions to supplies in the North African country.

Reports on Friday indicated that eight OPEC+ members still planned to increase production by 180,000 barrels per day in October, but the group had made clear in June that the decision could reversed subject to market conditions.

“The market reaction to these supply stories shows how weak sentiment in the oil market is currently,” Giovanni Staunovo, a strategist at UBS, told clients in a Wednesday note.

But three sources indicated to Reuters on Wednesday that the group might now consider delaying the October production increase.

“We also wouldn’t read much into the reported monthly production increases,” Staunovo wrote. “With prices now depressed, it’s possible those increases will be paused.”

Crude sales remain important to finance Saudi Arabia’s economic modernization project Vision 2030, Croft said. “I don’t think this is an optimal price for many members of OPEC,” Croft said.

It is also unclear if the deal in Libya will actually hold, the analyst said. Fundamentally, the market remains undersupplied as oil inventories have been declining since May despite weak demand in China, he said.

UBS believes the market is too pessimistic and Brent prices will recover to $80 per barrel in the coming months. “Hence, we continue to recommend risk-seeking investors to sell the downside price risks in crude oil,” Staunovo said.

Don’t miss these energy insights from CNBC PRO:

Environment

Baidu- and Geely-backed JiYue brand unveils ROBO X EV that goes 0-100 km/h in under 1.9 sec

Published

2 hours ago

November 15, 2024

admin

JiYue, a Chinese EV brand focused on delivering all-electric “robocars” to the masses, has unveiled its latest model, and it’s quite a deviation from its previous EVs—but in the best way. Earlier today, JiYue launched the ROBO X supercar, designed for high-speed racing. By high speed, we mean 0-100 km/h acceleration in under 1.9 seconds. My mouth is watering.

JiYue has only existed since 2021, when parent tech company Baidu announced it was expanding from software development into physical EV production, joining forces with multinational automotive manufacturer Geely.

The new “robotic EV” marque initially launched as JIDU with $300 million in startup capital before garnering an additional $400 million in Series A funding, led by Baidu, in January 2022.

In August 2023, Geely took on a larger role in JIDU alongside a greater financial stake as the brand reimagined itself as JiYue, inheriting the JIDU logo and its flagship model, the 01 ROBOCAR.

In December 2023, Baidu and Geely unveiled a second model called the JiYue 07. It was born from JIDU’s ROBO-02 concept, which debuted in 2023 and was designed to compete against the Tesla Model 3 in China.

The 07 finally launched in China earlier this year with 545 miles of range. With an all-electric SUV and sedan on the market, JiYue has unveiled an exciting new entry in the form of a performance supercar called the ROBO X. Check it out:

JiYue’s new ROBO X EV is available for pre-order now

JiYue showcased its new ROBO X hypercar in front of the crowd at the 2024 Guangzhou Auto Show earlier today. Similar to previous models but with a unique spin, JiYue described the ROBO X as an AI smart-driving supercar that, for the first time, blends artificial intelligence and autonomous driving into a high-performance, race-ready EV.

When we say “high performance,” we mean a quad motor liquid-cooled drive system that can propel the ROBO X from 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) in under 1.9 seconds. JiYue called the new ROBO X a “performance beast” with “the perfect balance of excellent aerodynamic performance and high downforce.” JiYue CEO Joe Xia was even bolder in his statements about the ROBO X:

For the next 20 years, the design of supercars will bear the shadow of Robo X. This is the best design in the history of Chinese automobiles today, and it is a landmark presence.

Fighter-style airflow ducts bolster the EV’s aerodynamics, efficiency, and overall posture. Per JiYue, the two-seater ROBO X is expected to deliver a maximum range of over 650 km (404 miles).

The new supercar features falcon-wing doors, a carbon fiber integrated frame, and a professional racing HALO safety system offering 360° of support. The interior features an AI smart cockpit with SIMO real-time feedback to give drivers an immersive racing experience.

Furthermore, JiYue said the vehicle will utilize parent company Baidu’s Apollo self-driving technology, which could make it the first electric supercar to apply pure-vision ADAS technology that enables track-level autonomous driving.

Following today’s unveiling of the ROBO X, JiYue has officially opened up pre-orders in China for RMB 49,999 ($6,915). That said, reservation holders will need to be patient as JiYue shared that it doesn’t expect to begin mass production of the ROBO X until 2027.

What do you think? Will people be talking about the ROBO X for the next 20 years?

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Environment

Wheel-E Podcast: Solar moped, XPedition 2.0, LiveWire scooter, more

Published

2 hours ago

November 15, 2024

admin

Wheel-E Podcast: Solar moped, XPedition 2.0, LiveWire scooter, more

This week on Electrek’s Wheel-E podcast, we discuss the most popular news stories from the world of electric bikes and other nontraditional electric vehicles. This time, that includes the launch of the Lectric XPedition 2.0, Yamaha e-bikes pulling out of North America, LiveWire unveils an electric scooter concept, PNY readying its cargo e-scooters for pilot testing, Royal Enfield’s first electric motorcycle, and more.

The Wheel-E podcast returns every two weeks on Electrek’s YouTube channel, Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter.

As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.

After the show ends, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:

We also have a Patreon if you want to help us to avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.

Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the Wheel-E podcast today:

Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 9:30 a.m. ET (or the video after 10:30 a.m. ET):

[embedded content]

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Environment

Crude oil heads to weekly loss as looming surplus depresses market

Published

4 hours ago

November 15, 2024

admin

Crude oil heads to weekly loss as looming surplus depresses market

Market Navigator: Crude oil under pressure

Crude oil futures were on pace Friday for loss for the week, as a supply gut and a strong dollar depresses the market.

U.S. crude oil is down more than 2% this week, while Brent has shed nearly 2%.

Here are Friday’s energy prices:

West Texas Intermediate December contract: $68.56 per barrel, down 14 cents, or 0.2%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil has shed about 4%.
Brent January contract: $72.36 per barrel, down 20 cents, or 0.28%. Year to date, the global benchmark has lost nearly 6%.
RBOB Gasoline December contract: $1.99 per gallon, up 0.46%. Year to date, gasoline has fallen more than 1%.
Natural Gas December contract: $2.70 per thousand cubic feet, down 2.98%. Year to date, gas has gained more than 4%.

The International Energy Agency has forecast a surplus of more than 1 million barrels per day in 2025 on robust production in the U.S. OPEC revised down its demand forecast for the fourth consecutive month as demand in China remains soft.

A strong dollar also hangs over the market, as the greenback has surged in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory.