Notes From All Over, Part 1 -- January 24, 2020

Holy mackerel: Brexit -- final documents signed today. One week from today, Brexit is official. US and EU will be stumbling all over each other to be the first to make deals. Coming off Davos, quite amazing. I assume those were the real discussions at Davos this year -- the deals that need to be made.

Oil: It's quite amazing to see how fast oil is falling. WTI is down another 2% this morning, off another $1.05; now trading below $55.

XOM: to sell its UK, Germany oil and gas operations.

Peak oil? What peak oil? Brazil breaks annual production record -- produced more than one billion bbls last year; daily average: 3.1 million bbls, up almost 8% year-on-year. 

Politics: apparently today, the third day of three days of opening statements, the US House impeachment managers will argue President Trump sought to stop impeachment efforts in the US House. Say what?

***************************

The Paleontology Page

The Neogene period,  from 20 mya to 3 mya (numbers rounded). From wiki:

During this period, mammals and birds continued to evolve into modern forms, while other groups of life remained relatively unchanged.

Early hominids, the ancestors of humans, appeared in Africa near the end of the period.

Some continental movement took place, the most significant event being the connection of North and South America at the Isthmus of Panama, late in the Pliocene.

This cut off the warm ocean currents from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, leaving only the Gulf Stream to transfer heat to the Arctic Ocean. The global climate cooled considerably over the course of the Neogene, culminating in a series of continental glaciations in the Quaternary Period that follows.

*********************************

Flashback

From July 23, 2016: