Thursday, May 17, 2018

Weekly jobs report: posted, Econoday --

• prior: 211,000
• consensus: 215,000
• actual: 222,000
• four-week moving average decreased from 216,000 to 213,250  

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Back to the Bakken 

Active rigs:

$72.08↑↑	5/17/2018	05/17/2017	05/17/2016	05/17/2015	05/17/2014
Active Rigs	59	52	26	83	190

RBN Energy: the Panama Canal expansion has helped US exports, but will it be enough. This is one of my favorite stories -- the Panama Canal expansion -- ever since The NY Times suggested that the expansion would fail.

The new, larger locks along the Panama Canal have been in operation for almost two years now, enabling the passage of larger vessels between the Atlantic and the Pacific. The timing couldn’t have been better — when the expanded canal locks came online in June 2016, exports of U.S. LPG, crude oil, gasoline and diesel were about to take off, and Cheniere Energy had only recently started shipping out LNG from its Sabine Pass export terminal in Louisiana, with Asian markets in its sights. Hydrocarbon-related transits through the canal soared through the second half of 2016, in 2017 and so far in 2018. But the gains are mostly tied to LPG and LNG — even the expanded canal isn’t big enough for the Suezmax-class vessels and Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) favored for Gulf Coast-to-Asia crude shipments. And there already are indications that the canal’s capacity may not be sufficient to meet future LNG needs. Today, we consider the expanded canal’s current and future role in facilitating U.S. hydrocarbon exports.

Public service reminder: if one is not a subscriber to RBN Energy the full RBN Energy posts are only available for a few days (weeks?). After that, they disappear and to "recover" them, a subscription is needed. I say that because yesterday's blog was particularly interesting. Don't miss it:
Steps toward making Louisiana a crude-exporting powerhouse.