Angola -- Oh, Oh -- April 30, 2018

I have never paid attention to Angola. When I saw this story, I did not think it would amount to much, but then I checked the EIA import data.

From Bloomberg: OPEC cuts may go deeper as another member sees output slump. In addition to Venezuela, now it's Angola.

Angola, once Africa’s biggest crude producer, is suffering sharp declines at under-invested offshore fields, with output dropping almost three times as much as the nation pledged in an accord with fellow OPEC members. With the losses set to accelerate -- a shipping program seen by Bloomberg News shows crude exports will fall in June to the lowest since at least 2008 -- the cartel risks tightening supply too much.

“Angola has a serious problem, with its decline rates becoming increasingly visible,” said Richard Mallinson, an analyst at consultants Energy Aspects Ltd. in London. “The low figure in June doesn’t look like a pattern of maintenance but points to steeper, structural declines.”

Look at the EIA data. Since 1993 there have only been two times in which monthly imports dropped below the one-million-mark and even at that, one million bbls/month is incredibly low.

That's import data.

Here's the total production data from tradingeconomics:

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Don't Forget To Remember Me

<Don't Forget To Remember Me, The Bee Gees

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Notes to the Granddaughters

We were in Chicago this weekend. Chicago is the "friendly" side of NYC. Wow, the folks were incredibly nice. They appear to enjoy life and enjoy Chicago.

It was slightly on the cool side but no rain; the sun was out but inside the Loop it was sometimes hard to find.

We were in Chicago to attend our older daughter's graduation from Rush University with an advanced degree.

We arrived at O'Hare about 8:00 p.m. and all seven of us piled into an Uber Infinity and headed into Chicago. [Speaking of which: each of us had no more than an overnight bag except for our daughter with one checked bag. That made all the difference. Any additional luggage and a second Uber would have been needed. Recommendation: any trip less than 72 hours -- nothing more than an overnight bag -- makes traveling so much easier.]

Wow, it was a long ride. I assume it took about an hour from the airport to downtown Chicago.

Our son-in-law had planned that we would head directly to bed.

But after checking in at the Gwen Luxury someone suggested a late snack. The concierge suggested the Quartino, about three blocks away -- the best Italian restaurant in the US? Maybe. It was incredible. Known for its "small plates," we took advantage. Wow, we had so many small plates among the seven of us I quickly lost count.

Sophia loved the loud, energized, family-friendly environment; 10:00 o'clock at night and she was just getting started  -- wow, was it loud and fun! Sophia grabbed a slice of bread even before the waitress had a chance to place it on the table. After our first round of ordering, I took Sophia back to see the kitchen.

The pizza-chef was incredibly friendly. Sophia was "demanding" something she saw in the kitchen  -- I didn't know what she was "talking" about but the pizza-chef figured it out. She was looking at small meatball-like hors d'oeurves with a toothpick in them. She has had them before and loved them. So the pizza-chef brought a plate of the appetizers over to our table -- complimentary, of course, but we made sure that the waitress put them on the tab -- only to find out that they were not meatballs. They were dates wrapped in pancetta, stuffed with gorgonzola dolce and drizzled with honey. I loved them; Sophia did not. She had more bread.

[I can't say enough about the waitress. She seemed to be enjoying the evening as much as we were, and she had no problem with all the ordering, and then "stuff" coming directly from the kitchen per Sophia's requests. I really appreciate waitstaff that can immediately size up the party. I think she immediately knew that "specifics" were not important. Bring anything. No one was keeping "score." Somehow it will all work out. I don't think she could hear us over all the commotion; she could "read lips." LOL.

[It's funny how things work(ed) out. It was 10:00 p.m.; the place was packed, and yet, we were brought over to a huge round table that sat seven. Had one not known better, one would have guessed we had reservations. ]

The granddaughters and my wife had pizzas of various types. Our granddaughter had grilled octopus; our son-in-law had eggplant parmigiana. All the "small pates" would easily serve two -- I didn't have any eggplant but I had plenty of octopus. I'm looking forward to grilling octopus this summer. I think the octopus was on a plate of sauteed spinach, but I could be wrong. [I obviously knew what it was at the time, but I've since forgotten; all the small plates came with so many vegetables.]

There were so many choices of salumi I simply told the waitress to bring what she thought best. Wow, incredible. And green olives.

Everyone had water but I had a cocktail. If I recall correctly, a tailfeather.

My entree: Angus beef carpaccio. "Angus beef" on the menu simply jumped out at me. I've had steak tartare in Paris but never carpaccio. I loved it, but it's a woman's entree, to be honest. But as a "small plate," awesome.

We got back to the Gwen about midnight.

Our first two hours in Chicago. 40+ more to go.