Biden Admin. Pledges Huge GHG Cuts
April 23, 2021
The US House on Tuesday passed a bill to open the OPEC oil production group and countries working with it to lawsuits for collusion in boosting petroleum prices. OPEC Secretary-General, Mohammad Barkindo, said US assets and personnel overseas could be at risk if the country decided to pass a bill against OPEC, known as NOPEC. In a letter, he encouraged members of countries to engage with the US administration. There has been a similar bill to appear in Congress over the last 20 years.
Partial or full lockdowns are expected in India as COVID-19 cases increase. The 10 states facing the highest risk account for 66% of the country’s gasoil demand. Gasoline demand is forecast to fall by 100,000 bpd in April and 170,000 bpd in May, while gasoil demand is expected to fall by 220,000 bpd in April and 400,000 bpd in May. This is not a welcome sign for the energy bulls but the outlook is so strong for the US it may not matter at this point so we will see how things progress.
On Thursday, the Biden administration pledged to cut US greenhouse gas emissions by 50%-52% from 2005 levels by 2030.
OPEC and its allies are scheduled to hold a full ministerial meeting on April 28th.
The rising cases of COVID-19 in India and Japan are a big concern for crude oil prices. As of now, this is a near-term concern as the outlook for strong second-half demand continues to keep future month prices supported. There has been some good news as well as France and Greece are set to lift their primary COVID virus restrictions beginning in May.