AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report for Friday, 12/22/23

International technology Group ANDRITZ has successfully started up the MDF line II supplied to Panel Plus MDF Co. Ltd., based in Bangkok, Thailand, for its mill in Hat Yai. The pressurized refining and chip washing system supplied by ANDRITZ is the centerpiece of the line. It has a capacity of 30 bdmt/h and is characterized by low specific energy consumption as well as excellent reliability. The chip washing system using the ANDRITZ sedimentation technology is the first of its kind to be delivered to Thailand and will be used mainly for sand removal. The scope of supply also included a maintenance-friendly ANDRITZ C-Feeder that ensures minimum energy consumption, higher system stability, and longer refiner plate lifetime. Click Read More below for additional information.

Three years into a dramatic slump in oil prices, big oil companies seem to have adapted their businesses to a point where they can still generate cash and reduce debt levels even at current oil prices. European oil giants Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Total SA and Statoil ASA kicked off the sector's second quarter earnings Thursday season with a flurry of reports that highlighted growing cash flow and sustained profits. Though notably better than at the start of 2016 when the price of crude plummeted to $27 a barrel, oil is still more than 50% weaker than in 2014 when prices started to fall. The supply glut that sparked the crash has proved stubbornly persistent despite efforts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major producers to limit output, prompting several large banks to cut their oil price forecasts in recent months. Click Read More below for more of the story.

Futures fell 2.5 percent in New York. China’s oil refining dropped the most in three years in July, while crude output retreated from the highest this year. Libya’s biggest oil field, Sharara, cut output by more than 30 percent because of security threats, a person familiar with the matter said. Meanwhile, the dollar strengthened, eroding the lure of commodities as a store of value. "We’re seeing some strength in the dollar, and the preponderance of news seems to be favoring the bears right now," Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group Inc. in Chicago, said by telephone. "If you look at the China data this morning, when it came to the China refinery runs being down in July, that’s adding to the perception of slowing demand, and it’s offsetting the concerns about Libyan oil production." Click Read More below for additional detail.