The Market, Energy, Political Page, Part 3, T+61 -- April 30, 2018

Road to New England: Bostonians see the light? Potential closure of Boston power plant raises new concerns. From The Concord Monitor.

The threat by the owner of a huge gas-fired power plant near Boston to shut down unless it can make more money selling its power has added more urgency to a long debate about how to maintain the stability of the region’s power grid during winter, and how to get the six New England states to share the expense.

“The big elephant in the room is cost allocation. We’ve already said that we think this is a cost that is regional in nature. ... This is an energy shortage problem during the winter, that will affect the whole region,” said Gordon van Welie, president of ISO New England, the quasi-governmental group that oversees the region’s electric transmission system. “No one’s going to escape the effects of the problem, and so therefore we think the region as a whole should pay for this problem.”

To ensure reliable fuel supplies for Units 8 and 9, plant owner and Exelon subsidiary Exelon Generation Co. LLC is also buying ENGIE North America Inc.'s Distrigas liquefied natural gas import terminal in Boston during the rest of their operations.

Comment: I thought wind and solar had solved all of the energy problems for New England.

Comment: Reality sucks.

Comment: the problem is not whether there will be enough energy for New England; it's a matter of how much the middle class will be squeezed by incredibly high utility rates going forward. But, no, Beacon Street won't go dark. And Bostonians won't freeze -- but they will pay dearly for heat and light.

Crazy:

Crazy, Gnarls Barkley

OPEC. Unable to strategize successfully? Bloomberg Gadfly makes the case.

OPEC's multi-year attempt to steer the oil market by focusing on inventory levels was always like trying to drive a car while looking only in the rear view mirror. The inventory data is historical and reflects what the market was like a month or more ago. By the time OPEC gets the data, the world has already moved on.

If you thought that was a bad idea, wait until you hear this. 

The most important metric for OPEC and its friends, according to Saudi oil minister Khalid Al-Falih, is the level of investment in future oil production capacity. Speaking after the group’s gathering in Jeddah on April 20, he said they all need to promote confidence in the long-term market in order to attract capital, not to target price.

The world needs to add 4 million to 5 million barrels a day of new production capacity each year to meet rising demand and offset declines, he said. The industry is far from reaching that goal.

Comment: the big story in that article -- The world needs to add 4 million to 5 million barrels a day of new production capacity each year to meet rising demand and offset declines. If that's accurate, that speaks volumes. 

$300 oil. So scary, the tweet was deleted: