Weekly EIA Report And Insulin -- March 1, 2023

Weekly EIA report, link here:

• US oil in storage remained about 9% above the five-year average, begging the question: why is "everyone" so worried about the SPR releases; and, oh, by the way, why is gasoline still so expensive if there is such a huge amount of oil in storage?
• US oil in storage increased by 1.2 million bbls last week, well below the previous report's increase but still an increase
  
• US oil in storage now stands at 480.2 million bbls and shale operators can "turn on a dime";
• imports -- yawn
• refiners are operating at 85.8% -- oh, is that why gasoline prices remain stubbornly high?
• is "our" problem too little drilling or too little refining?
• distillate fuel inventories increased only very slightly and are now 10% below their five-year average but still more than enough -- and yet, very expensive, I'm told;
  
• jet fuel: still surprising -- down 0.7% compared with same four-week period last year.

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Hey, On Another Note

Another win for Biden but so much more important, a huge, huge, huge announcement / concession (used in the good sense of the word) from Lilly.

Earlier this year: Biden / Medicare / insulin / $35 / month. 

Folks complained that the Biden-insulin initiative helped seniors but did nothing for the younger set.

Today, Lilly capped prices for its insulin at $35 / vial. Even less in some cases (?).

CNBC link.

From $500 / month to $70 / month -- that will go a long to help those most affected by inflation. 

There's some "small print" stuff, like private insurance, but my hunch: Amazon Pharmacy is all over this. 

If there is a "small print" glitch, my hunch: Amazon Pharmacy will have a way to solve the problem. 

How many vials does the "average" diabetic use / month?