Saturday, March 27, 2021

Idle Rambling -- Mid-Day Edition -- Saturday -- March 27, 2021

Crude oil exports / imports: the metric is fairly moot for most of us. At least it is for me.

  • global oil is no long controlled by a cartel;
  • the cartel still has a huge influence on the price, but it's no longer the only game in town
  • with the US shale revolution, oil became a true commodity;
    • interestingly enough, compared to most products traded internationally, I'm not sure to what extent tariffs play with regard to oil;
  • if push came to shove, as they say, the US could manage on its own
  • that cannot be said for Europe, Africa, Asia or Antarctica; not sure about South America
  • refined products becoming a more important issue than imports/exports 
  • very similar to raw cotton / cotton products during the British Empire

US crude oil imports:

  • to Texas, Louisiana, Gulf coast: Canada, Mexico
  • to one refinery on Gulf coast: Saudi Arabia
  • to New England and northeast: Russia
  • to cokers along US Gulf: Russia Mazut 100
  • to California: Alaska, and Mideast oil

Link here. And, here.

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Suez Canal
11: 49 a.m. Central Time, Saturday, March 27, 2021

Cairo: local time -- 6:49 p.m. Saturday evening, March 27, 2021; Egyptian authorities said earlier in the week the ship would be freed by Saturday night, March 27, 2021. Inshallah.

  • no sign, as of one hour ago, that the ship had been freed up
  • rudder is free and moving; apparently not damaged
  • bow and stern resting on sand;
  • middle of the hull is sagging; divers seen no breach in the hull or any other damage;
  • the canal is a V-shaped canal;
  • sand pouring into the base of the "V" could disrupt normal traffic, or change the best route through
  • the canal -- all that sand that is being "hoovered" up has to go somewhere, and I assume it's being dumped into the middle of the canal;

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