This small part of a huge spending package has gone almost unnoticed by the general public. Most of the attention in the American media focused on how passage again narrowly prevented a government shutdown and on the rare bipartisan support the measure received in a sharply divided Congress. The total $1.15 trillion bill still awaits full congressional approval, as well as President Obama’s signature.
The subsidy part of the package, approved by Congress on Dec. 15, lets solar power companies to continue taking advantage of tax credits at 30 percent of the price of a solar panel system, whether it’s a modest home solar kit or a huge commercial solar farm. The credit now will last through 2019, then will shrink gradually to 10 percent by 2022.
U.S. crude oil exports will change the oil and tanker market said Poten & Partners in its latest weekly report. According to Poten, the potential for U.S. crude exports is a big deal and within a few days many articles and opinion pieces have come out to explain what this means for oil prices, refining margins, the WTI/Brent spread and many other factors.
For the time being, most analysts diverge towards the notion that the impact of the lifting of the ban on oil markets, will be of limited importance, at least in the short-term. This is because, the world oil glut is more than evident at the moment, while also, the currently narrow WTI-Brent spread, renders U.S. crudes uncompetitive in the export market. However, what about the medium to long-term impact to the market?
In its report, Poten raised the question of who will be the most likely importers of U.S. crude, when or even if, the spreads support exports at some point in the future? According to Poten, “that will depend on a number of factors. First of all: export infrastructure. In the short-term, only ports in the U.S. Gulf area have the capability to load crude oil on vessels for export. Most facilities in the Gulf only support Aframax tankers but some (like Corpus Christi) will be able to handle Suezmaxes in the future. VLCCs may be utilized in the short term if the economics support reverse lightering in the U.S. Gulf. Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) is the only VLCC facility in the U.S. Gulf, but it is an import terminal. LOOP is thinking about starting loading services by 2018 and adding storage capacity, but reconfiguring LOOP will take time and money”, Poten noted.
Alfred Tennyson wrote:We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
ROCKMAN wrote:And Pops - Did you look at the link and saw where the US exported more oil the year AFTER the so called "ban" bill was signed into law then the year before it was passed?
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