Brent Booster Shot
“Midship Pipeline said allegations that it illegally withdrew those funds to hedge against financial fallout as Gulfport headed toward insolvency were ‘erroneous’” - Allison Good (S&P)
One legacy of Vince Vaughn’s character Jeremy (Wedding Crashers) is that we read the word “erroneous” with four exclamation marks… *every time*. Putting that aside, we’ll let Gulfport / Midship rest -
***Editor’s note: Matt is relocating the UK (GMT time zone) through at least Q1 - contact information remains the same.***
BRENT.
Another Monday, another vaccine…
…for Brent Crude.
Brent is now trading above $45/bbl (>$46 as of writing).
However - in the last month - the only part of the WTI curve that’s materially moved (in the context of this yr’s vol), is the 12mo strip.
Equities have also received a boost from vaccine news headlines.
But, the reality for real economies is that East Asia & Australasia are handling the dance of virus containment & the reopening of economies much better than West.
In any case, we expect both headlines & economic output to be choppy through the end Q1 -
ARTISANAL MINERS.
Electric car batteries are creating unusual friendships…
The DRC’s Entreprise Générale du Cobalt, Trafigura, & Tesla made an appearance together in the FT’s latest update on cobalt.
For those who are unaware, Tesla is the 3rd wheel on this date…
“Volkswagen said last week that it did not accept cobalt from artisanal mines in the country” - FT
The fear (that will likely be realized) is that - as cobalt demand increases - growth of the DRC’s informal mining operations will outpace the regulatory improvement of working conditions.
In the coming years, regulatory pressure in the West (especially Europe) will force a tradeoff…
A decrease in fossil fuel vehicles vs an increase in informal African mining -
OTHER NEWS.
A Polish oil story
Banks aren’t marking their loan books to market…
Be on the lookout for the upcoming #EFT charity fundraiser
Janet Yellen is back
The Brexit version of shooting yourself in the foot
Pierre Poilievre is our new favorite Canadian politician
Frac sand stories
An attack on Libya’s NOC is thwarted
China’s refining sector is expected to reach #1 in 2021
A Houthi attack on Aramco yields no injuries
Abu Dhabi is planning for $122BN in CAPEX alongside new discoveries
Steve Cohen is now active on Twitter
John Carmack is now 1yr in, on his AGI quest; Carmack is our horse in the race to create AGI
That’s it for this week - hope y’all enjoy Thanksgiving - catch y’all next week -