This week we’re watching Hurricane Irma bear down on Florida, just after watching the full-scale destruction that Hurricane Harvey dealt to the Gulf Coast in Texas.
For us as energy investors, however, there’s little to report from these monumental disasters. Sure, refiners shut down and some of the assets of refiners like Valero and Motiva were literally swamped. But in the markets, not much really happened – even the crack spreads, that represent the relationship of gasoline to crude oil, only moved by 3% – and that’s hardly a move that mirrors the force this category 5 hurricane represented.
Instead, I give you the three OTHER most important stories in oil that you need to know about:
First, there’s this story about the increasing prices of rare earth metals since the beginning of the year from Reuters. Now, for those that don’t know, rare earth metals are a key component in high tech electronics, like your ipad and cell phone. What you may not know is that its the number one commodity to track if you’re trying to build solar panels and high tech generators as well, like the kind you need for wind generators.
Yes, it’s true – high prices for rare earth metals can stop the already slow gains being made by renewables in solar and wind power. And therefore something we must be closely watching.
NEXT UP – A US Geological survey report of natural gas reserves that they’ve assessed in the Amu Darya Basin Province of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, and Afghanistan. Stop laughing.
You want to know where natural gas prices are going in the long-term? Want to know whether the LNG revolution has legs? Want to know whether the US supplies in the Marcellus and Haynesville have the potential to matter on a global scale, and not just here in the US? Then you need to know the potential of other resources in other parts of the world.
Now, natural gas reserves are not in short supply globally – Russia seems to have a pretty robust supply that keeps growing, and Qatar would like to keep the LNG export market as much to themselves as possible. But the prospect of other, less developed nations finding a big reserve and adding to these known reserves is very important to keep in check. Here, with 35 trillion cubic feet, We won’t see the Amu Darya Basin matter much to global nat gas supplies in the future – by comparison, the US Haynesville alone boasts more than 75 trillion cubic feet.
Finally – the storms have accelerated some of the trends of rebalancing we’ve been waiting for, and put in chaos some others.
This story is critical for timing when to add to positions in oil and gas stocks, or even to start them.
Why no link to that one? Well, it’s my own story, that I’m going to share with Energy Word subscribers in my next interactive webinar, this Monday, September 11th at 4PM.
Why don’t you be one of them? Sign up here.
