Fuel price developments for 2022-2023
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
Oil prices stabilized on Thursday after falling the day before on signals that the supply of crude oil on the market exceeds demand.
Data from the American Petroleum Institute (API), released on Wednesday night, showed an increase in US stocks last week by 1.837 million barrels. In particular, stocks increased at the Cushing terminal, where oil traded on the Nymex is stored.
The official data on energy reserves will be released by the US Department of Energy on Thursday at 18:00 p.m. If confirmed, the increase in Cushing oil reserves will be recorded for the tenth consecutive week, which will be the longest period of continuous growth since 2016.
The cost of February futures for Brent oil on the London ICE Futures exchange as of 7:20 a.m. amounted to $79.61 per barrel, which is $0.04 (0.05%) lower than at the close of the previous trading. As a result of trading on Wednesday, these contracts fell by $1.42 (1.8%) to $79.65 per barrel.
Futures for WTI for February in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) fell by $0.09 (0.12%) to $74.02 per barrel. The day before, the value of contracts fell by $1.46 (1.9%) to $74.11 per barrel.
Concerns about the outlook for demand, especially in China, are growing, says CIBC Private Wealth analyst Rebecca Babin, quoted by Market Watch. Oil consumption in China, which was quite high in the first three quarters of this year, is weakening, she notes.
“Lack of confidence in the prospects for the Chinese economy in 2024 is the main factor that worries market participants,” Babin said. – “The second most important factor is the possibility that US production will exceed forecasts, as it did in 2023.
By the end of December 2023, the OKKO chain installed solar panels at 122 filling stations, its founder Vitaliy Antonov said.
“In total, solar power plants (with the previously installed ones, we already have 122 of them) this year generated 2 million kWh of electricity and partially covered the needs of filling stations. We also reduced the load on the country’s energy system,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
According to him, in 2023, solar panels were installed at 56 OKKO filling stations, and next year it is planned to install them at 70 more stations. “In other words, we will cover almost 50% of the entire network,” Antonov said.
As reported, in 2022, 65 rooftop solar power plants in the OKKO network generated a total of 1.7 million kWh of electricity, saving the company more than UAH 7 million on energy purchases from external sources.
OKKO filling stations network is a part of OKKO Group. It is one of the largest filling stations networks in Ukraine, with about 400 filling stations.
The majority shareholder of the company is Vitaliy Antonov. Minority shareholders include the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
The United States has provided Ukraine with a $250 million military aid package, the Pentagon website reports.
“This announcement marks the fifty-fourth tranche of assistance that the Biden administration will provide to Ukraine from the Department of Defense’s stockpile beginning in August 2021,” the statement said.
The new aid package includes additional air defense equipment, artillery ammunition, anti-tank weapons, and other equipment to help Ukraine counter Russian aggression.
In particular, the package includes
– additional ammunition for NASAMS air defense systems;
– Stinger anti-aircraft missiles;
– air defense system components;
– additional ammunition for HIMARS;
– artillery shells of 155 mm and 105 mm caliber;
– optically tracked and wire guided tube-launched missiles (TOW);
– Javelin and AT-4 anti-tank systems;
– more than 15 million rounds of ammunition for small arms;
– explosive ammunition for clearing obstacles;
– spare parts, medical equipment, maintenance and other support equipment.
The Polish government is making efforts to effectively represent the interests of Polish carriers and drivers, which will lead to a weakening and, as a result, an end to the blockade on the Polish-Ukrainian border, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday at a press conference after a government meeting.
“I don’t think we will achieve the maximum demanded by the Polish protesting carriers, but it seems that what can be achieved will allow us to defuse emotions and perhaps quickly lift the blockade on the border. I think we are close to believing that our actions can bring results – both actions in Kyiv and negotiations in Brussels,” he was quoted as saying by polskieradio24.pl.
Tusk also said that after the government meeting, a meeting of the Security Committee of the Council of Ministers was held, during which Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski reported on his visit to Kyiv.
“It confirmed what we all know and feel, that the situation at the front is difficult,” the Prime Minister said.
He noted that “in general, the situation in Ukraine is quite dramatic for various reasons. This requires us to be very active, both in terms of diplomatic and political support, as well as strong cooperation in terms of material assistance to Ukraine,” Tusk emphasized.
As reported, Polish carriers began blockading the Yahodyn-Dorohusk, Krakovets-Korchova and Rava-Ruska-Krebenne checkpoints on November 6, and on November 22, the Oszukana Wieś organization joined the protest and blocked the Shehyni-Medyka checkpoint. Only the checkpoints for empty vehicles and those for light trucks remained outside the blockade.
On December 11 at 14:00 Kyiv time, the head of the Dorohuska Commune dissolved the protest of Polish carriers, and later refused to satisfy a new protest application. However, on December 15, a local Polish court overturned this decision, allowing the protesters to resume the blockade on December 18.
The organizers of the blockade, who demand the abolition of the “transport visa-free regime” for Ukraine introduced with the war, reported that, according to the official permission of the local authorities, it would last until January 3, 2024. However, some checkpoints already have permits to extend it until February, and a new blockade of the Dorohusk-Yagodyn checkpoint, according to Polish media, has been announced until March. The Ukrainian side had hoped for the border to be unblocked after the new government led by Donald Tusk came to power in Poland in mid-December, but so far, the blockade has been lifted only at the Shehyni-Medica checkpoint since December 25.
Interpipe reported that it is currently implementing three investment projects. The largest of them, worth about $40 mln, is the construction of a new pipe heat treatment section. Two more projects are being implemented in the railroad division at the Interpipe NTZ plant in Dnipro.
Nikopol-based Centravis has planned to modernize its pipe-pressing line in the first half of 2024, which will reduce metal waste in the production process. The volume of investments in this project is about $3.5 million.
First Deputy Prime Minister noted that on the day of the visit to the enterprises in Nikopol and Kryvyi Rih these cities had been shelled by the occupants. Therefore, against this background, information about bold investment plans of Dnipropetrovsk enterprises looks particularly impressive.
According to her, metallurgy has always been a fundamental branch of the Ukrainian economy. Before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the domestic MMC created about 10% of GDP and brought about a third of cash proceeds from all commodity exports. This industry was and still is export-oriented, with more than 80% of metal products shipped abroad.
“The most important thing the government can do now for Ukrainian metallurgy is to ensure unimpeded exports by sea. We have an important achievement in this direction. In September, the first ships with metal traveled through the temporary sea corridor. And in November, we recorded a total increase in exports by sea by 70%. Metal exports are starting to work. This means that metallurgists and miners will have work, and the Ukrainian budget will receive additional taxes. Now we are working on the full unblocking of maritime logistics and launching the mechanism of ship insurance, which is already in place,” Sviridenko summarized, as quoted by the press service.
