Oh-Oh! Trump Made THE Call. WTI Down Almost 4% -- Down $2.28 -- Trading At $62.93

Updates

Later, 10:27 a.m. Central Time: Z-Man tweets rumor that Trump will grant China waiver for Iranian oil. 

Later, 10:23 a.m. Central Time: wow, I just checked the twitter-sphere -- pundits are going nuts over Trump's call to OPEC.  Even Z-Man fails to note that this all goes back to Obama killing the heavy oil pipeline, called the Keystone XL. But twitter is afire following Trump's phone call to Prince Salman.

By the way, I used to follow Trump on twitter but quit following him after the Mueller report was released. It was just too much to follow.

Original Post 

Posted at 10:05 a.m. Central Time, April 26, 2019.

Wasn't it just two days ago pundits were talking $85 oil this summer?

WTI is plummeting. Gasoline prices this weekend should plummet. LOL. Let me know how that works out.

Trump gives Russia/OPEC carte blanche to open the spigots, kill US shale.

Barack Obama would have given a speech.

I think I read somewhere Saudi tracks Brent. I can't remember. I don't know. But Brent is also down. Down over 3%. Trading at $71.25.

OPEC basket, on the other hand, up slightly, at $74.04. Why would OPEC basket be rising (slightly) when WTI is crashing? The US needs heavy oil. The US is swamped with light oil.

Fortunately, Australia is starting to import US light oil. Link here.

Two cargoes of U.S. crude oil have been booked to sail to Australia, highlighting the increasing global reach of exports from the United States.

Aframax tanker Esther Spirit loaded U.S. oil in early April at Enterprise Houston Terminal and is scheduled to discharge at Kwinana in Western Australia on May 20.

BP Plc chartered the Silver Sun, an Aframax, to load from the U.S. Gulf Coast this week to Kwinana for $2.35 million. BP operates a refinery at Kwinana producing fuels for Western Australia.

And look at this, just the opposite of the US:

 “Australia’s aging refineries were designed to run regional crude that is typically light and sweet. U.S. crude is a good substitute for typical Australian refinery feedstock,”[somebody said.]

And to think the US would have a "goldilocks" oil situation had Obama not killed the Keystone XL. And folks on talk radio here in north Texas still get upset with Trump tweets. Get a grip. 

US crude oil exports:

************************** 

Word of the Day: Holometabolous

Link here, wiki.

Holometabolous, adjective for the noun, holometabolism.

Holometabolism, also called complete metamorphosis, is a form of insect development which includes four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and imago or adult.

Holometabolism is a synapomorphic trait of all insects in the superorder Endopterygota.

Immature stages of holometabolous insects are very different from the mature stage.

In some species the holometabolous life cycle prevents larvae from competing with adults because they inhabit different ecological niches. The morphology and behavior of each stage are adapted for different activities. For example, larval traits maximize feeding, growth, and development, while adult traits enable dispersal, mating, and egg laying. Some species of holometabolous insects protect and feed their offspring. Other insect developmental strategies include ametabolism and hemimetabolism.

There are nine extant orders that contain holometabolous organisms, including butterflies and moths, beetles, and flies. There are two extinct orders.

If one wants an up-to-date look at insects, consider Natural Histories Innumberable Insects: The Story of the Most Diverse and Myriad Animals on Earth, Michael S. Engel, c. 2018.