Unleaded Gas Headed to Another Record High, Biden to Address the Nation – Mish Talk

May 9, 2022

Unleaded gas price courtesy of Nasdaq, annotations by Mish.

New Record Pump Price Coming

A record futures price portends a record price at the pump

Diesel is already there.

AAA Gas Prices

EU Proposes Ban on Russian Oil

In a speech to the European parliament, on May 5, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen sought solidarity on Russia.

“We now propose a ban on Russian oil. Let’s be clear: it will not be easy. But we simply have to work on it. We will make sure that we phase out Russian oil in an orderly fashion, to maximize pressure on Russia, while minimizing the impact on our own economies.”

CNN noted the Proposed Ban Ran Into Immediate Objections.

On May 5, the EU Proposed Ban on Russian Oil

“The proposal on behalf of Brussels is suggesting that it should be done by the end of next year,” Zoltan Kovacs, spokesperson for Prime Minister Viktor Orban, told CNN’s Eleni Giokos. “The shortest period, we’ve been clear on that, our oil companies have been clear on that, is three to five years.”

Hungary said it couldn’t back the proposal in its current form because it was worried about what it would mean for the country’s energy security. Nearly 60% of its imported oil came from Russia in 2021, according to the International Energy Agency.

“The very essence of decision-making in Europe is consensus,” Kovacs said. “We’ve been telling Brussels and all the European states, that on Hungary’s behalf, it simply cannot be done as they require.”

Slovakia — which got 92% of its oil imports from Russia last year — and the Czech Republic have also sought longer transition periods than those envisaged by the EU plan, Reuters reported.

Sanctions Fail Again

The price of gas jumped on the news. The whole notion of cutting off Russia simply will not work.

Nonetheless, ClimateWire offers this nonsensical headline E.U.’s Russian oil ban could reduce global emissions.

“So we are looking at the overall shrinking oil production capacity of Russia, which will likely lead to reduced emissions from the Russian oil and gas sector,” said Maria Pastukhova, a senior policy advisor for climate think tank E3G.

Yeah, right.

Who the hell is funding this idiotic think tank?

Despite the nonsensical headline, the body of article points out the silliness of it all.

Yesterday’s sanctions proposal also includes a measure that would prohibit insurance firms and E.U.-owned shipping companies from providing services linked to the transport of Russian oil to other destinations, The New York Times reported.

That could lead to more extensive disruptions of international oil flows than the embargo alone, since as much as 95 percent of the world’s tanker fleet is arranged through London-based insurance providers, according to Rystad Energy.

Without secondary sanctions on shipping, a full oil embargo could lead to a rerouting of oil cargoes to more distant markets. And that could lead to more emissions, as tankers burn more fuel on longer transport routes, said Alan Gelder, vice president of refining, chemicals and oil markets at Wood Mackenzie.