USA & EU Working on Stimulus Plans
July 20, 2020
As we start a new week the news is the same as the concerns about the increasing cases of the virus continue to keep energy price stuck in a trading range. The current sentiment seems to be negative as the COVID-19 news is front and center. The US and European Union are both working on another round of stimulus and that could provide a jump for their economies and energy prices. Investor have grown uneasy as there is economic uncertainty, political uncertainty and also civil unrest as rallies and protest are happen around the US.
The Baker Hughes Rig Count was released on Friday and it showed that oil rigs were down 1 to a total of 179 crude oil rigs and last year at this time there were 779 oil rigs in operation. The US total rigs of Natural Gas and Oil have fallen to an all-time low of just 253 rigs.
According to GasBuddy data, US retail gasoline demand fell 5% from the previous week ending on July 11th. Demand had also taken a hit the week before, which marked the first time demand fell two straight weeks in a row since the lockdowns were imposed in March.
US Energy Secretary, Dan Brouillette, said the US and India signed a memorandum of understanding with India storing oil in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve. He said they will discuss the details with India in the next few weeks and months.
US Senator Chuck Grassley said lawmakers from Iowa are trying to add aid for the biofuels industry into a pending coronavirus relief package in the Senate. Senator Grassley and Senator Joni Ernst hope to include a subsidy for feedstock for ethanol industry in the bill.