Free Republic

East Coast fuel markets are facing diesel supply constraints due to market economics and tight inventories.Poor pipeline shipping economics and historically low diesel inventories are combining to cause shortages in various markets throughout the Southeast. These have been occurring sporadically, with areas like Tennessee seeing particularly acute challenges.Back in May 2022, diesel prices rose by $1/gal and supply dried up throughout the Southeast. Over the past few weeks, market volatility has begun to echo the challenges seen in April 2022, as we covered in FUELSNews on Oct 11 and Oct 14. Like before, markets are now seeing extremely high prices...

U.S. refineries are preparing themselves for the possibility that President Biden could impose a ban on fuel exports after the White House dangled the threat of the ban in front of refiners. No action has been taken to date, but with the mid-terms coming up and fuel prices continuing to rise, this could soon change. Earlier this month, the White House requested that the DOE assess the potential impact of banning fuel exports – including gasoline, diesel, and other refined petroleum products. The move suggested that President Biden may be preparing for a ban. This comes ahead of the mid-term...

France will order striking workers at Esso-ExxonMobil refineries and fuel depots back to their posts in order to end shortages causing headaches for millions of motorists, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said Tuesday. Labour unions representing a majority of Esso's overall staff agreed to a salary deal with management on Monday, but the CGT and FO unions, the largest at most refineries, voted to pursue the blockage. Around a third of France's service stations were still low on, or out of, petrol as strike action at energy giant TotalEnergies and other oil majors entered its third week and wage talks stalled....

Diesel and heating oil supplies in the Northeast are more than 50% below the recent average, raising concerns that an extreme weather event could cause supply disruptions, federal officials said. Fuel supplies are lower than normal across the country for a variety of reasons, including the war in Ukraine. But it’s the worst in the Northeast. Diesel fuel and heating oil, which comprise the distillate category, are 63% below the five-year average in New England and 58% below the same average from Maryland to New York, according to a survey by the Department of Energy. Gasoline inventories are not as...

Sri Lankan security forces have been ordered to shoot law-breakers on sight in a bid to quell anti-government protests on the island. Demonstrators are calling for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa over the island's worst economic crisis in history. On Monday his brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa, stepped down as prime minister amid violent street clashes. But the resignation failed to bring calm and violence continued overnight. On Tuesday the government ordered troops to open fire on anyone looting public property or causing "harm to life". It also deployed tens of thousands of army, navy and air force personnel to patrol...

COLOMBO, April 1 (Reuters) - Police imposed an overnight curfew in several parts of Sri Lanka's main city of Colombo early on Friday after protests over the government's handling of the country's worst economic crisis in decades turned violent, an official said. Hundreds of protesters gathered near President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's private residence in a Colombo suburb late on Thursday and were broken up by police using tear gas and water cannons, a Reuters witness said. Amal Edirimanne, a senior superintendent of police, said a curfew had been imposed in four police divisions of Colombo, the country's commercial capital.

Fuel prices are one of the major causes of the Biden inflation surge that is reducing the spending power of Americans. The price of crude oil has surged 104% over the past year, and gasoline prices have increased by over 60%. This means that people are not only paying more for their personal fuel needs, but also for other items they need to buy that require energy to manufacture and/or transport—which is basically everything.The Biden Administration has been begging OPEC+ nations to up their oil production, hoping they will increase the market supply and lower prices. But the oil-producing cartel...

IT'S NO secret that Hurricane Katrina has upended Washington politics, rightfully making relief efforts the top priority. So re-labeling old ideas as a part of disaster recovery is the new political game. The first, though not last, Shameless Award in putting the hurricane to other uses goes to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn. He's tapping the oil refineries shut down by Katrina and higher pump prices to advocate for drilling in Alaska's Arctic edge. Never mind that these supplies are seven to 10 years away. Never mind that the reserves may amount to only 4 percent of this nation's...

Nigerian Strike To Focus On Oil ExportsNigeria’s largest labor organization has called for its 2nd national strike — to start Nov. 16 — against recent government hikes in the domestic retail oil price. This strike, however, is strategically aimed at stopping Nigeria’s lucrative oil exports. Nigeria is the world’s seventh largest oil producer, and is the fifth largest provider of oil imported by the United States. If the strike is effective, its effects could ripple through the global oil economy, causing wholesale prices to rise beyond its recent record levels, and raising U.S. gas and fuel prices.