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Thursday, June 10, 2021

Energy 145, US oil production, world prices of oil, ethanol, coal and copper

WTI crude reached $70+ per barrel yesterday, today at $69-$70, highest since mid-Oct 2018. Since last December when it was clearer that Biden would occupy the White House and his three "save the planet" measures -- cancel fracking (oil-gas) in federal lands, kill Keystone oil pipeline, rejoin Paris ecological central planning -- would be implemented, world oil prices started rising.

From US peak production of 13 million barrels per day (mbpd) in February and March 2020 before hard lockdowns were implemented in the US and many countries, it started to recover to 11 mbpd in Oct 2020 (pre-election), but it remained flat at 11 mbpd until this month, while world oil demand rises. Even ethanol and biofuel prices also rose since December last year.

Dictators and autocrats of OPEC including Saudi, Iran, Venezuela, and Russia are happy with these three Biden policies. As big oil exporters, their revenues keep rising while under Trump, their revenues were falling.

High oil prices are bad, not good, for net oil importers like PH. Expensive oil means higher cost of moving people, goods especially food products, higher cost for tractors, harvesters, trucks; higher cost for fishing boats and inter island shipping, etc. When Trump raised US oil production to 12-13 mbpd, the big oil exporters that are mostly ruled by dictators were aching while average oil consumers were rejoicing. Now Biden is reversing that.
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Coal and copper prices also rising since last December. Coal now at nearly $115/ton, copper at $4.5/lb.

Offshore Wind Requires 63,000lbs Of Copper Per Turbine
By Irina Slav - May 17, 2021, 9:30 AM CDT
https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Offshore-Wind-Requires-63000lbs-Of-Copper-Per-Turbine.html

This upward trend in demand for copper will only intensify in the coming years as the world expands its renewable power generation capacity. It is likely to be supported by the constant threat of a supply disruption like the one in Chile

Weekly data: Why keeping an eye on copper is vital for the energy transition
Copper is a critical component in the cables needed to decarbonise energy systems, but experts differ on the relationship between the race for renewables and mineral mining.
By Mirela Petkova  17 May 2021 (Last Updated 18 May 2021)
https://energymonitor.ai/tech/renewables/weekly-data-why-keeping-an-eye-on-copper-is-vital-for-the-energy-transition

Offshore wind turbines require 8 literal tons of copper for every megawatt of generation capacity, Petkova noted, adding, citing data from the International Energy Agency, that “An average turbine of 3.6MW, which can power more than 3,300 average EU households, will contain close to 29 tonnes (t) of copper.”

Visualizing The Copper Intensity Of Renewable Energy
BY TYLER DURDEN   WEDNESDAY, MAY 26, 2021 - 02:45 AM
https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/visualizing-copper-intensity-renewable-energy 
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See also:
Energy 142, Earth Day, Miscellaneous energy articles, April 28, 2021 
Energy 143, IEA embraces darkness economics, May 23, 2021 
Energy 144, Shell and oil companies are penalized because consumers and motorists use their products, May 28, 2021.

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