UBS Warns Of "Scary" Oil Price Scenarios Once Inventory Buffers Run Dry

"Heavy Casualties" After Massive Twin Quakes Rock Venezuela, Topple Buildings; "International Response May Be Needed" Twin earthquakes rocked Venezuela on Wednesday evening, collapsing entire apartment buildings across Caracas and leaving behind scenes of widespread devastation. The USGS said the first quake registered a magnitude of 7.1, with an epicenter near Morón, about 104 miles west of Caracas, at a depth of 8 miles. One minute later, a similarly massive magnitude 7.5 quake struck nearby, roughly 10 miles southwest of Morón, at a depth of 6 miles. Remarkably, the dual quake was...

"The National Security Premium": US Plan To Counter China In Critical Miners Could Drive Up Global Prices The US is pressing its allies to rethink how they source essential minerals, urging them to accept higher prices if it means reducing reliance on China, which currently dominates much of the global supply, according to a new report from Financial Times. According to US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, countries working with Washington should expect to pay extra for materials obtained through a proposed network of trusted partners. He framed this added cost as...

Chinese Refining Rates Unexpectedly Plunge To All-Time Lows As Economy Falls Off A Cliff Two weeks ago, when discussing the market "mystery" of sliding physical crude oil prices, we said that the most likely culprit were Chinese refiners, whose refining margins had just collapsed to the most negative on record. The reason for the margin collapse was China’s domestic fuel policy: it has long been Beijing's policy to soften price hikes to help shield consumers and avoid social unrest; which while beneficial to end, consumers is catastrophic to refiners and processors...