BlackMask Breaking News

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said Thursday the kingdom wants to invest $600 billion in the United States over the next four years, comments that came after President Donald Trump earlier put a price tag on returning to the kingdom as his first foreign trip. Trump’s 2017 trip to Saudi Arabia upended a tradition of U.S. presidents first heading to the United Kingdom as their first trip abroad. It also underscored his administration’s close ties to the rulers of the oil-rich Gulf states as his eponymous real estate company has pursued deals across the region as well. The comments from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, reported early Thursday by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, came in a phone call with Trump. “The crown prince affirmed the kingdom’s intention to broaden its investments and trade with the United States over the next four years, in the amount of $600 billion, and potentially beyond that,” the report said. The readout did not elaborate on where those investments and trade could be placed. The U.S. in recent years has increasingly pulled away from relying on Saudi oil exports, which once was the bedrock of their relationship for decades. Saudi sovereign wealth funds have taken large stakes in American businesses while also looking at sports as well. It also wasn’t immediately clear if Trump’s call with the crown prince was his first with a foreign leader since re-entering the White House. However, it was the first reported abroad. The crown prince, the de facto ruler of the oil-rich kingdom, also spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio early Thursday. On Monday after his inauguration, Trump talked about possibly heading to the kingdom again as his first foreign trip, like he did in 2017. The $600 billion pledge, which dwarves the gross domestic product of many nations, also comes as the kingdom faces budgetary pressures of its own. Global oil prices remain depressed years after the height of the coronavirus pandemic, affecting the kingdom’s revenues. Meanwhile, Prince Mohammed also wants to continue his $500 billion project at NEOM, a new city in Saudi Arabia’s western desert on the Red Sea. It also will need to build tens of billions of dollars’ worth of new stadiums and infrastructure ahead of it hosting the 2034 FIFA World Cup.

The executive orders issued by President Trump are poised to have profound implications for both the U.S. and global energy landscapes, analysts at BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions, stated in a BMI report sent to Rigzone late Tuesday by the Fitch Group.

“Domestically, the emphasis on increasing fossil fuel production will boost U.S. oil and gas production output, providing immediate economic benefits to the oil and gas sector by reducing regulatory barriers and streamlining permits,” the BMI analysts said in the report.

“We expect that these orders will increase oil and gas consumption in the U.S. – domestic production becomes more readily available and potentially more cost competitive,” they added. The analysts went on to note in the report that this intensified focus on fossil fuels poses a risk to the United States’ long-term climate objectives. “By prioritizing fossil fuel infrastructure and rolling back restrictions, the orders may slow down the United States’ energy transition to renewable energy sources,” the BMI analysts said in the report. “Furthermore, it places barriers on wind power development, through the suspension of offshore wind leasing, representing a critical setback for the U.S. renewable energy sector,” they added. “Offshore wind projects, which have been gaining momentum as a cornerstone of clean energy strategies, could face significant delays or cancellations. Such interruptions could impede progress towards diversifying the energy mix and meeting emissions targets, affecting both environmental outcomes and the competitiveness of the U.S. renewable energy industry,” they went on to state.

“An increase in U.S. fossil fuel exports, facilitated by expanded production capacity, could reduce fuel costs, shifting the global energy mix towards higher emissions. This could counteract the progress made by other nations in reducing their carbon footprints and transitioning to cleaner energy sources,” they added.

Standard Chartered Bank Commodities Research Head Paul Horsnell late Tuesday, analysts at Standard Chartered Bank, including Horsnell, said, “we have not yet seen any major surprises in the new administration’s oil and gas policies, except perhaps the extent to which they have been framed as a central core of the entire program”.

Summary of Weekly Petroleum Data for the week ending January 10, 2025

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) decreased by 2.0 million barrels from the previous week. At 412.7 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 6% below the five year average for this time of year. U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 16.6 million barrels per day during the week ending January 10, 2025, which was 255 thousand barrels per day less than the previous week’s average. Refineries operated at 91.7% of their operable capacity last week. Gasoline production increased last week, averaging 9.3 million barrels per day. Distillate fuel production decreased last week, averaging 5.2 million barrels per day. U.S. crude oil imports averaged 6.1 million barrels per day last week, decreased by 304 thousand barrels per day from the previous week. Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 6.5 million barrels per day, 3.3% less than the same four-week period last year. Total motor gasoline imports (including both finished gasoline and gasoline blending components) last week averaged 450 thousand barrels per day, and distillate fuel imports averaged 219 thousand barrels per day.  Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 5.9 million barrels from last week and are sightly below the five year average for this time of year. Finished gasoline inventories and blending components inventories increased last week. Distillate fuel inventories increased by 3.1 million barrels last week and are about 4% below the five year average for this time of year. Propane/propylene inventories decreased by 4.7 million barrels from last week and are 7% above the five year average for this time of year. Total commercial petroleum inventories decreased by 3.4 million barrels last week.
Total products supplied over the last four-week period averaged 20.2 million barrels a day, up by 1.1% from the same period last year. Over the past four weeks, motor gasoline product supplied averaged 8.5 million barrels a day, up by 0.8% from the same period last year. Distillate fuel
product supplied averaged 3.6 million barrels a day over the past four weeks, up by 5.8% from the same period last year. Jet fuel product supplied was up 6.4% compared with the same four week period last year.

 

Oil edged lower after President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on China and the European Union, while traders continued to assess the fallout from unprecedented US sanctions on Russia. West Texas Intermediate settled below $76 a barrel after swinging between gains and losses for much of Wednesday’s session. Crude’s recent run of declines has been partly spurred by the bearish implications of a renewed global trade conflict that poses risks to consumption and growth. Trump on Wednesday widened his threats to include a 10% tariff on China and the EU, two of the world’s largest energy markets. The new threats follow Trump’s plans to impose tariffs as high as 25% on goods from Canada and Mexico, which are major crude suppliers to the US. The possibility of tariffs on Canadian oil already is pushing a flood of crude out of the country to the US to beat potential levies. Still, the Canada tariffs would result in higher gasoline costs for American consumers, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. warned last year. Oil traders also are still digesting the most comprehensive set of sanctions on Russian oil to date. State-owned refiner Indian Oil Corp. said it sees a supply hit of up to 2 million barrels a day from the measures. The value of Dubai crude has soared relative to other benchmarks as traders scramble for alternative supplies. Trump said he’s likely to impose more penalties on Moscow if President Vladimir Putin doesn’t negotiate on Ukraine. Crude remains higher so far this year, helped by the Russia sanctions and frigid weather in the northern hemisphere. A historic winter storm caused bitter cold from Texas to North Carolina Wednesday, upending regional energy markets.

“Oil’s 2025 uptrend reflects unsustainable bullish momentum, primarily fueled by transient factors: winter demand, a short-term Chinese export boost ahead of US tariff risks and hedging against upside risks driven by U.S. sanctions on Russian oil,” said Razan Hilal, a market analyst at Forex.com.

The recent run of declines has been limited by WTI’s 200-day moving average, which is serving as a floor for losses.

nn: the equation is incredible simple

ddb=x(.50}=$

ddb is trumps drill baby drill

x is current price of oil

$ is the net oil price in the next year

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would likely impose sanctions on Russia if its president, Vladimir Putin, refuses to negotiate about ending the war in Ukraine. Trump gave no details on possible additional sanctions. The United States has already sanctioned Russia heavily for its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Trump said his administration was also looking at the issue of sending weapons to Ukraine, adding his view that the European Union should be doing more to support Ukraine. “We’re talking to (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskiy, we’re going to be talking with President Putin very soon,” Trump said. “We’re going to look at it.” Trump said he had pressed Chinese President Xi Jinping in a call to intervene to stop the Ukraine war. “He’s not done very much on that. He’s got a lot of … power, like we have a lot of power. I said, ‘You ought to get it settled.’ We did discuss it.”

The Israeli Ministry of Justice announced it will release 735 Palestinian prisoners as part of the first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement. The initial phase, set to begin on Sunday, is expected to last six weeks and will include the release of 33 Israeli hostages. The agreement will proceed in two additional stages. On Sunday, 95 prisoners, 70 women and 25 men, will be freed in exchange for three female Israeli hostages .This announcement came shortly after the Israeli government voted in favor of the ceasefire deal. The ministry also published the names of all adult Palestinian prisoners slated for release.

Israel frees 90 prisoners after Hamas releases 3 hostages

The Israeli Prison Service (IPS) said it released 90 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the three Israeli hostages released by Hamas on Sunday, as part of the first phase of the ceasefire deal. Before the Israeli hostages had been returned, the IPS transported the first round of the Palestinian prisoners to the Ofer Prison in West Bank, where their identities have been confirmed ahead of their release. Out of the 90 prisoners, 78 are West Bank residents, with the remaining 12 being East Jerusalim residents, the Times of Israel said. According to Ynet, out of the 90 released, 69 are women, including one minor, 12 are men, who were sentenced for minor offenses and eight of the those released are male minors.

NN audio fie trading doves for dragons

 

“It is imperative that the Federal government puts the physical and economic wellbeing of the American people first,” the text of the order read. It was further stated that the policies of the previous administration have negatively impacted the US energy industry and national security. “The United States’ ability to remain at the forefront of technological innovation depends on a reliable supply of energy and the integrity of our Nation’s electrical grid,” it said.

President Donald Trump is dismantling Biden admin energy policies to focus on boosting oil and gas production and exports, seeking energy dominance on a global scale. In his first day in office, the president withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement, just as he had done during his first term, and reversed Biden’s ban on offshore oil and gas drilling in parts of the U.S. continental shelf. Instead, Trump said, “America will be a manufacturing nation once again, and we have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have: the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth.” The U.S. obviously has quite substantial reserves of both hydrocarbons and Trump has repeatedly stated he intends to make the best of these.

“We will bring prices down, fill our strategic reserves up again, right to the top, and export American energy all over the world,” he said of his plans for the energy sector.

United States President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Elise Stefanik (pictured) responded on Tuesday affirmatively to the question if she believed Israel had a biblical right to the entire West Bank. Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Stefanik did not clearly disclose if she supported a two-state solution for Palestine. She insisted that “I support human rights for all” while explaining that both she and Trump backed halting the funding of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and switching to another aid channel. Asked about billionaire entrepreneur and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Administrator Elon Musk’s alleged Sieg Heil salute while he spoke at Trump’s inauguration, Stefanik claimed that he “did not do those salutes. I was not at the rally … that is simply not the case.” NN:  here is a women whose head is screwed on right and a hairy set of balls

The Trump administration removed on Tuesday Adm. Linda Fagan, the first woman to lead a US military service, from her role as commandant of the Coast Guard. The announcement, made by interim Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman, provided no explanation for the decision but marked the first important shift in military leadership under President Donald Trump. Fagan’s removal follows Trump’s campaign promises to replace military leaders who promote diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Retired Adm. Paul Zukunft called the move “shocking” and linked it to Trump’s stance on such initiatives. NN: Time to take out the garbage. fight wars not diversity and the fagat agenda.