Crude Oil
Make Money When Oil Prices Climb And When They Fall
When I learned about the business operations of refining companies a decade ago, I became a fan of the sector and the long-term profit rewards that investors can earn from it. The energy sector is divided into three subsectors. Upstream energy companies drill for oil and gas. Midstream is the transportation and storage of energy […]
Oil ETFs Jump On Escalation In Middle East Tensions
Oil prices skyrocketed more than 12% on June 13, following a major military escalation in the Middle East. Brent crude jumped above $78 per barrel, while WTI crude rose to nearly $77 — the highest level in four months. With this rally, oil is on course for its largest weekly gain since 2022. The impressive […]
Weakening Shale Productivity Could Be Bullish For Oil Prices
After years of improvements in drilling techniques and impressive “efficiency gains,” there is now evidence that the U.S. shale industry is reaching the end of the road on well productivity. A report earlier this month from Raymond James & Associates finds that the U.S. shale industry may struggle to achieve further productivity gains. If these […]
What If Venezuela And Iran Oil Are Totally Off The Market?
We’re hyper-focused on politics at the moment because, well, Trump. If he weren’t the president, with unshakeable support from one faction while inducing loathing from another, then the 2020 election cycle might be a touch less fanatical. But he is the president, and we’ve got Democratic hopefuls pummeling each other as they move to the […]
The Russians Are Coming To America ….. Bearing Oil
As America’s Russia hysteria is stirred once again by the arrival of the long-awaited report of the U.S. Department of Justice on Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, a surge in Russian oil imports has arrived on America’s shores. The surge was little noticed by what passes for the U.S. foreign policy apparatus these days […]
Will U.S. Shale Companies Survive This Oil Price Downturn?
The bad news coming out of the shale oil fields of America could all be put down to slumping oil prices. That is certainly a big factor. But as investment professionals like to say, when the tide goes out, we all find out who’s been skinny-dipping. The pattern of negative news from shale country is […]
Oil Price Now Hostage To The Financial Market
Oil prices regained more ground on Wednesday, pushed higher after equity markets rebounded from an initial selloff at the start of 2019 trading. The price gains are not entirely convincing. WTI and Brent posted strong gains, each up more than 3 percent by midday in New York, but come largely after U.S. equity markets shook […]



