Your Weekly Jolt ? Stay Focused

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YOUR WEEKLY JOLT 

There are 22 days left in 2019! No pressure. And if you’re like many who are planning to take some time off for Christmas or Hanukkah, then you’ve got two full work weeks and some change before we drop the ball, make our resolutions, and dive headlong into 2020. Time to stay focused, and finish strong.On that note, we’ll cut right to this week’s Jolt, so you can get back to work.


HEATING OIL 

  • Prompt-month heating oil futures increased 3.92% for the week ending Friday, 12/6, as prices rose $0.0736 per gallon.
  • On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude futures for delivery in January closed at $59.20 per barrel on Friday, 12/6, up 1.51% for the day, and up 7.30% for the week.

Why so crude? Crude oil prices jumped last week but fell slightly on Monday, trading around $59 a barrel. Prices were up on news that OPEC+ had agreed to bigger output cuts than anticipated, with Saudi Arabia committing to a cut of 400,000 barrels per day of their own supply. This boosted the market to its largest weekly gain since mid-June. Investors were slightly bearish to start the week as data showed exports in China declined for the fourth-straight month, raising concerns that oil demand could falter. The Baker Hughes oil rig count fell last week, going from 668 to 663 and indicating decreased domestic production.


GASOLINE & DIESEL 

  • U.S. regular gasoline prices decreased by $0.005/gallon or 0.19% from the previous week to average $2.667/gallon.
  • Gasoline prices are up $0.123/gallon from a year ago.
  • U.S. on-highway diesel fuel prices increased by $0.004/gallon or 0.13% from the previous week to average $3.070/gallon.
  • Diesel prices are down $0.137/gallon from a year ago.

Gas Money? Seems like prices at the pump will be favorable this holiday season. Gasbuddy has a pretty savvy “Trip Cost Calculator” to help determine what the roundtrip fuel costs might look like if you’re headed over the river and through woods.


NATURAL GAS 

  • Prompt-month natural gas futures decreased $0.167 for the week ending Friday, 12/6, to settle at $2.334/Dth.
  • Overall supply increased by 0.6 Bcf from the previous week. Total demand increased by 6.6 Bcf.
  • Natural gas exports in September 2019 were 394,767 million cubic feet, compared with 301,746 million cubic feet in September 2018. This is a 30.83% increase.
  • Net withdrawals from storage totaled 19 Bcf, compared with the 5 year average net withdrawal of 41 Bcf and last year’s net withdrawal of 62 Bcf during the same week.
  • Working gas stocks total 3,591 Bcf, coming in 9 Bcf less than the five-year average and 591 Bcf more than last year at this time.

Less Demanding! Natural gas futures gapped lower early Monday, which means the weather forecasts over the weekend came in on the seasonal-to-warm side. The move wasn’t much of a surprise after the midday run of the American weather model dropped a huge amount of demand from its long-range forecast, and the late European model held firm in its milder stance. – FX Empire


ELECTRICITY 

  • Average peak prices in NYC increased last week, rising $3.74 to $27.88 per MWh.
  • Average peak prices in Central NY’s Zone C increased, rising $4.40 to $24.75 per MWh.
  • Average peak prices in New Jersey’s PSE&G increased, rising $0.50 to $23.49 per MWh.
  • Average peak prices in New Jersey’s ACE increased, rising $2.43 to $23.18 per MWh.
  • Average peak prices in Pennsylvania’s PPL increased, rising $4.90 to $25.02 per MWh.
  • Average peak prices in Maryland’s BGE increased, rising $4.16 to $29.06 per MWh.
  • Calendar 2020 prices in NYC decreased $0.53 per MWh, and Zone C prices decreased $0.84 per MWh.
  • Calendar 2020 prices in PSE&G decreased $0.87 per MWh, and ACE prices decreased $0.84 per MWh.
  • Calendar 2020 prices in PPL decreased $0.82 per MWh.

Eel Power! The Christmas tree at the Tennessee aquarium is being powered by an unusual energy source – an electric eel. Miguel Wattson is the resident eel and through a special system that connects his tank to a nearby tree, the natural shocks he produces when he is looking for food or when he is excited are being channelled to power holiday lights. – The Guardian


TECHNOLOGY 

football




National Football League and Amazon Web Services Team Up to Transform Player Health and Safety Using Cloud Computing and Artificial Intelligence. The partnership aims to leverage AWS’s artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) services to provide a deeper and more profound understanding of the game than ever before, making transformational change possible in football, other sports, and potentially other industries. – Amazon