Energy news and prices from last week

WTI crude oil gained $1.68 to $86.82 (up 15% year to date)

 

Gasoline jumped 4.1% (up 14%)

 

Natural Gas surged 16.0% (up 24%).

January 23
– Wall Street Journal:
“Germany’s dependence on Russian gas has left Europe short of options to sanction Moscow if it invades Ukraine—and itself vulnerable should Russia stop gas exports to the West. A two-decade-old decision to phase out nuclear power and more recent moves to cut reliance on coal in an effort to bring down CO2 emissions mean Germany is now more reliant on Russian gas than most of its neighbors, not just for heating but also for power generation. This year, the country’s last three nuclear power plants will be closed, just as Germany faces some of the highest energy prices in the developed world. All German coal plants are due to be closed by 2038.”

January 24
– Bloomberg:
“Lithium prices are continuing their breakneck ascent in China, with surging electric-vehicle sales underpinning a fivefold gain over the past year. Chinese lithium carbonate prices tracked by Asian Metal Inc. rose to a fresh record on Monday, as data showed a 35% month-on-month jump in electric-vehicle registrations in December… But with lithium prices blowing past previous records, there’s a growing risk that raw-material inflation could soon create headwinds for the burgeoning industry.”

January 25
– Bloomberg:
 “The U.S. Department of Energy announced the loan of 13.4 million barrels of crude oil from its strategic reserve as part of a renewed effort by the Biden administration to contain oil prices that have surged to their highest level since 2014. The awards to seven companies… mark the second-largest exchange of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve ever, and bring the total amount of oil released from the cache to nearly 40 million barrels…”

January 27
– Bloomberg:
“Wholesale gasoline in the New York market surged to the highest seasonal level in three decades of record keeping as deliveries of domestic and foreign supplies failed to keep pace with demand.”