| YOUR WEEKLY JOLT Thanks to continued COVID-19 social distancing rules, many of the nation’s biggest theater chains remain closed by the governmental advisory. On the flip-side, from coast to coast, the popularity of the nation’s 305 drive-in movie theaters—many of which were built when Eisenhower and Elvis were popular—is on the rise. Even Governor Cuomo wants to fast-track the reopening of New York’s 30 or so drive-in theaters, citing the implied safety of sitting in a car with the same people you’ve been quarantined with for months. You might want to BYOP (bring your own popcorn), but the thought of spending a starry night watching a movie outdoors sounds pretty dreamy to us. And now for this week’s Jolt. HEATING OIL Prompt-month heating oil futures increased 19.26% for the week ending Friday, 6/5, as prices rose $0.1858 per gallon.On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude futures for delivery in July closed at $39.55 per barrel on Friday, 6/5, up 5.95% for the day, and up 11.44% for the week.Why So Crude? Crude oil prices rose last week but were down on Monday, trading around $38 a barrel. Oil markets edged lower to begin the week despite mostly positive news, including an agreement by OPEC and its allies to extend record supply cuts for another month. Prices have now doubled since April as OPEC’s cuts trimmed a global supply glut and demand rebounded with COVID-19 related restrictions being lifted in many areas. China’s crude oil imports also hit an all-time high last month, reaching 47.97 million tons in May. That marks a 15% increase from April. The Baker Hughes oil rig count showed that the number of active rigs in the U.S. decreased for the tenth straight week, going from 222 to 206. GASOLINE & DIESEL U.S. regular gasoline prices increased by $0.015/gallon from the previous week to average $2.064/gallon.Gasoline prices are down $0.845/gallon from a year ago.U.S. on-highway diesel fuel prices decreased by $0.004/gallon or 0.17% from the previous week to average $2.386/gallon.Diesel prices are down $0.765/gallon from a year ago.Demand & Increase. Since Monday, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has increased by $.02 to $1.99, which is $.03 higher than a week ago, $.21 more than a month ago and $.81 less than a year ago. The increase in demand has occurred alongside an increase in the national average. – AAA NATURAL GASPrompt-month natural gas futures decreased $0.067 for the week ending Friday, 6/5, to settle at $1.782/Dth.Overall supply increased by 0.8 Bcf from the previous week. Total demand increased by 2.0 Bcf.Natural gas exports in March 2020 were 496,866 million cubic feet, compared with 373,539 million cubic feet in March 2019. This is a 33.02% increase.Net injections into storage totaled 102 Bcf for the week ending 5/29, compared with the five-year average net injections of 103 Bcf and last year’s net injections of 118 Bcf during the same week.Working gas stocks totaled 2,714 Bcf, coming in 422 Bcf higher than the five-year average and 762 Bcf more than the year-ago level.Supply Going Up. The EIA reported last week that domestic supplies of natural gas rose by 102 billion cubic feet for the week ended May 29. That was less than the average increase of 110 billion cubic feet forecast by experts. – FX Empire ELECTRICITY Average peak prices in NYC increased last week, rising $2.29 to $21.37 per MWh.Average peak prices in Central NY’s Zone C decreased, falling $0.55 to $17.53 per MWh.Average peak prices in New Jersey’s PSE&G increased, rising $2.54 to $18.48 per MWh.Average peak prices in New Jersey’s ACE increased, rising $3.17 to $18.08 per MWh.Average peak prices in Pennsylvania’s PPL increased, rising $2.52 to $18.95 per MWh.Average peak prices in Maryland’s BGE increased, rising $0.61 to $29.77 per MWh.Calendar 2020 prices in NYC increased $0.08 per MWh, and Zone C prices increased $0.02 per MWh.Calendar 2020 prices in PSE&G decreased $0.14 per MWh, and ACE prices decreased $0.13 per MWh.Calendar 2020 prices in PPL decreased $0.13 per MWh.Lightning. Watch this 5-second video of lightning striking the Washington Monument. – Mashable TECHNOLOGY |
| Streamline Business Expenses. You’ve just flown in for a conference. It’s late. You order a car to the hotel and realize you haven’t had dinner yet so you fire up the Uber Eats app. And as of Thursday, instead of tracking the order and submitting a receipt to get reimbursed for the meal, Uber Eats has its own business platform—Uber Eats for Business—to streamline business expenses. – Mashable |