223 - Is Russia cutting production or not?

Energy Week

Russia forecasts stable oil output to 2025, to set up stockpiles

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-forecasts-stable-oil-output-2025-set-up-stockpiles-2023-04-17/

- Russia wants to build their stockpiles. Are they taking 500,000bpd off the market and putting it in storage or are they going to cut production in order to keep that oil in the ground and that's storage?

- Russia could be planning to not actually cut production but keep those sales on the down low

Opec Chief Pushes Back on IEA's Criticism of Cuts

https://www.energyintel.com/00000187-8e37-dc4f-a7e7-9fb7a32e0000

- "First of all, this is not the first time the IEA has criticized Opec and Opec-plus. Unfortunately, it has become like a broken record, yet time and time again, market fundamentals prevail, and Opec’s more accurate forecasts and decisions prove to be the correct ones."

- IEA pushes energy transition and then expresses frustration when OPEC cuts oil production

- What does the west really WANT from OPEC?

- Key differences between IEA and OPEC April Monthly Oil Market Forecasts: "Opec revised its forecast [for China's oil demand growth] upward this month by about 50,000 b/d reaching 760,000 b/d, while the IEA revised it upward by almost 200,000 b/d reaching 1.2 million b/d."

OPEC doesn't think China's oil demand growth will be nearly as high as the IEA thinks.

Russia’s oil exports are back to pre-war levels

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/14/energy/russia-oil-exports-iea-report/index.html

- according to IEA, "Moscow’s exports of crude oil and oil products rose in March to their highest level since April 2020, jumping by 600,000 barrels a day"

- Russia's overall income plunged nearly 21% compared with the same period in 2022 according to Reuters.

Stopping America’s LNG exports would hurt producers and send Beijing to Russia’s doorstep

https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/3933453-stopping-americas-lng-exports-would-hurt-producers-and-send-beijing-to-russias-doorstep/

- we should encourage economic relations with China because it has improved diplomacy.

- Can't be a free-market and say you want to ban exports to certain places

Europe’s Largest Nuclear Reactor Launches as Continent Splits Over Atomic Energy

https://www.wsj.com/articles/europes-largest-nuclear-reactor-launches-as-continent-splits-over-atomic-energy-373d6bd4

- Divide between European countries that want more nuclear and those that are shutting it down in their countries.

- "public support for nuclear power has grown in Finland, with roughly 60% of Finns in favor"

- “Finland has a very strong culture of trust in authorities and experts,” said Mr. Tulkki, the nuclear scientist. Public confidence that nuclear waste can be disposed of safely “has enabled people to accept nuclear power,” he said.

Check out new column on water futures trading: https://www.investing.com/analysis/saudi-arabia-takes-aim-at-oil-bears-what-traders-should-know-200636964

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