Oil rose on Thursday, with U.S. crude rebounding from near-20-year lows in the previous session on hopes that a big build-up in U.S. inventories may mean producers have little option but to deepen output cuts as the coronavirus pandemic ravages demand. Brent crude was up 69 cents, or 2.5%, at $28.38 a barrel by 0102 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up 56 cents, or 2.8%, at $20.43....
The news comes as the fast-spreading pandemic led to the extension of the "no sail order" for all cruise ships by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, as it looks to curb the spread of the virus. "A majority were layoffs," a company spokesperson said, without specifying separately the percentage of furlough and layoffs....
The global economy is already in the early throes of a recession, but business is booming at Amazon (AMZN). As Deutsche Bank's Lloyd Walmsley puts it: “it may not be judicious for the company to be perceived as profiting from the COVID-related turmoil.”The proof is in the pudding. While unemployment figures have risen dramatically since the viral outbreak has sent millions of workers home, Amazon has set in motion the hiring of an additional 100,000 employees to help with the surging demand. According to the NY Times, orders for Amazon groceries are 50 times higher than normal during this stay-at-home period.The news has prompted Walmsley to touch down with a “logistics consultant intimately familiar with Amazon's operations,” to gain insight on how the additional labor costs will impact the balance sheet. “We come away optimistic that near-term higher volumes on existing infrastructure and lower energy prices can help offset higher wages,”...
A U.S. judge canceled a key permit Wednesday for the Keystone XL oil pipeline that’s expected to stretch from Canada to Nebraska, another setback for the disputed project that got underway less than two weeks ago following years of delays. Judge Brian Morris said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers failed to adequately consider effects on endangered species such as pallid sturgeon, a massive, dinosaur-like fish that lives in rivers the pipeline would cross. Pipeline sponsor TC Energy will need the permit for future construction across hundreds of rivers and streams along Keystone's 1,200-mile (1,930-kilometer) route....
(Bloomberg) -- The physical oil market, where millions of barrels of real cargoes are traded each day, needed OPEC+’s historic cuts to global crude production months ago.On Sunday, producer nations pledged to limit output by an unprecedented 10% of global supply. While there’s skepticism the cuts will prove deep enough -- demand has plunged by far more -- a more pressing issue is one of timing: the real market, the one that underpins headline prices, has a huge glut and the output curbs won’t even begin until May. Before then, it’s pump at will so the curbs won’t really affect physical oil supply for months.Signs of weakness abound. Key North Sea crude swaps are trading more than $6 a barrel below the headline Brent futures price of about $28 -- the biggest discount in almost a decade. The critically important Dated Brent benchmark that shapes the price of millions of barrels...
