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Mo News: What's Next For Gas Prices
Mosheh Oinounou
October 07, 2022
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Hi everyone,
TGIF!
OPEC slashed oil production in a major blow to the Biden administration and what country we are turning to for oil next;
What it means for prices at the pump... and how it could spell trouble for Democrats at the polls;
Biden says risk of nuclear "armageddon" highest since Cuban Missile Crisis
A court declared the Obama-Era "dreamer" immigration policy illegal;
Details behind the VP's car crash that was covered up as a "mechanical failure";
American tourist smashes ancient sculptures at the Vatican when he is denied a meeting with the pope;
Tech companies are promising not to weaponize their robots 🙄;
How long-Covid could alter your day-to-day activities;
Yes, petting your dog can boost brain activity. It is literally science according to a new study;
And as always, what we're watching, reading, and eating this weekend!
⛽️ OPEC IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT
This week, a group of some of the world’s most powerful oil producing countries slashed production by 2 million barrels per day. It’s a major setback for President Biden. The move means gas prices are likely to spike again… putting another strain on Americans just one month before they head to the polls for midterm elections. ~ Washington Post
OPEC+ is a group of 23 oil producing counties - including Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Russia - that meet regularly to decide how much crude oil to sell.
What’s driving its decision? The organization cited "uncertainty that surrounds the global economic and oil market outlooks" – like a looming recession.The move was also driven by low prices of crude oil, which recently starting moving higher again after several declining months. OPEC+ wants to drive higher profits by reducing output.
So what determines the price of gas? It’s all about supply and demand. These countries are heavily dependent on oil profits, so they’re cutting production and the global oil supply in order to bring prices up. By making something more scarce, people are typically willing to pay more for what is left… especially something as necessary as oil.Bottom line: It's all about the bottom line $$$$ for these countries.
The average gas price has already increased nearly 10 cents this week, according to AAA. But it’s not the end of the road yet: Analysts expect the rate of increase to accelerate as demand continues to rise this holiday season.Demand hit 9.47 million barrels per day last week, up from 8.83 million the week before, the Energy Information Administration said.While prices are still far below June’s record high of $5.02, the national average is still more than 60 cents higher than a year ago.And you’d need to strike gold to afford gas in the Golden State. Prices are upwards of $6 for a regular gallon of gas. Yikes.
GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan warned gas stations with prices under three dollars will "disappear in the weeks ahead, primarily thanks to OPEC's decision to cut oil production.”
White House are less than pleased with the OPEC decision.For one, midterm elections are right around the corner, and high gas prices could lead voters to punish Democrats in November. And with an economy already teetering on the edge of a recession, Democrats fear any eleventh-hour rise in gas prices could spell trouble for the election.For context: The average price of gas was just $2.39 when President Biden took office. Yesterday's average gas price was $3.86.The economy and cost of living consistently rank among top voter issues, with Republicans being the party of choice. GOP candidates are making the economy a central theme of their campaigns. ~ NBC NewsTwo, Russia will benefit from the cut, because lower production will increase the price of oil — helping Moscow finance its war effort in Ukraine.Last but certainly not least, the blow comes after months of extraordinary efforts by the White House avoid this disaster.Behind the scenes: Members of the Biden administration had reportedly been "pulling out all the stops" to avoid a production cut... even trying, unsuccessfully, to recruit companies to speak out against a production cut. ~ CNBCOn the world stage: President Biden traveled to Saudi Arabia, a nation he vowed to make a "pariah," to personally meet with the Crown Prince in July. But his desperate plea for the oil kingdom to ramp up production fell short, and his fist bump fell flat.The New York Times summed it up: OPEC Move Shows the Limits of Biden’s Fist-Bump Diplomacy With the Saudis
President Biden fist bumps Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed on July 15th | Getty Images
President Biden called the decision a “disappointment” as global energy prices already surge higher from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.He suggested nothing is off the table in the White House response to the cuts: "We are looking at alternatives" to oil from OPEC Plus countries. "We haven’t made up our minds yet," he said.
Now, in a last-ditch effort to alleviate an onslaught of pain at the gas pump, President Biden is reportedly turning to the dictator of Venezuela for help.The deal could potentially ease sanctions on Venezuela to allow Chevron to resume pumping oil there - on the condition President Nicolás Maduro resumes long-stalled talks on holding free and fair presidential elections in 2024. ~ Wall Street JournalThat move is sparking criticism a) for negotiating with a dictator, and b) for turning to a foreign adversary for oil before finding new ways to boost domestic oil drilling/production in the U.S.But, the National Security Council insists the administration has no plans to change its Venezuela sanctions policy "without constructive steps" from Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to restore democracy.Biden has already released nearly 200 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to flood the markets with more supply, with another release of 10 million barrels coming next month. The point is: the SPR is supposed to be used in emergencies... not to offset unfavorable decisions by OPEC.
🗞 THE SPEED READ
President Biden said Thursday the risk of nuclear "Armageddon" is the highest it has been in roughly 60 years after Russian President Putin renewed his threats. In remarks at a Democratic fundraiser, Biden said it was the first time since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis that there has been a "direct threat" of nuclear weapons’ being used, "if, in fact, things continue down the path they are going.”
Cherelle Griner said in an interview on Thursday that a call she had with WNBA star Brittney Griner, who is detained in Russia, "was the most disturbing phone call I'd ever experienced." "You could hear that she was not okay. If you think about just a person's suffering and when they have suffered to a max … she was at the max that day," Cherelle told "CBS Mornings" co-host Gayle King. "I think I cried for about two, three days straight. It was the most disturbing phone call I'd ever experienced," she said. Cherelle said her wife is "at her absolute weakest moment in life right now."
Herschel Walker's abortion accuser is the mother of one of his children, report says (NBC News/Daily Beast)
The woman who alleges Georgia Republican Senate Candidate Herschel Walker paid for her abortion more than a decade ago also says she is the mother of one of his children, the Daily Beast reports, an allegation that counters the Georgia Republican's claim that he does not know his accuser. The Daily Beast reported that the woman is a registered Democrat who had a yearslong relationship with Walker, which continued after she had the abortion. The woman declined to reveal her name because she is the mother of one of Walker’s children and wants to protect her family’s privacy as much as possible while coming forward with the truth, the outlet said.
A federal appeals court panel ruled on Wednesday that a program that protects nearly 600,000 young immigrants from deportation is illegal but allowed those already enrolled to renew their status — in essence keeping the status of the program unchanged but its future uncertain. The decision from the three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit — one of the country’s most conservative federal appellate courts — affirmed a 2021 lower court decision. The Biden administration will need to continue its legal fight to enroll new applicants in the program, called the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. Recipients are often referred to as "dreamers."
A motorcade taking Vice President Harris to work was in a one-car accident on a closed roadway in D.C. on Monday morning, an incident that concerned both the Secret Service director and the vice president and revived worries about the agency’s history of concealing its mistakes, according to two people familiar with the incident. The Secret Service agent driving Harris in an SUV struck the curb of a downtown tunnel hard enough that the vehicle’s tire needed to be replaced, bringing the motorcade to a standstill near Foggy Bottom at about 10:20 a.m. Harris had to be transferred to another vehicle in the motorcade so agents could safely drive her to the White House.
Lawyers for the actor Kevin Spacey and Anthony Rapp, the man whose accusations of sexual misconduct upended the Oscar winner's career, traded dueling accounts on Thursday about the men's encounters more than 30 years ago as a civil trial over Rapp's claims began in New York. A lawyer for Rapp, who is seeking $40 million in damages, said in his opening statement that Spacey, then 26, drunkenly lifted Rapp onto a bed and climbed on top of him at a party at Spacey's New York apartment in 1986. Rapp was a 14-year-old actor just starting his own Broadway career at the time.
An American tourist smashed two ancient Roman sculptures into pieces at the Vatican on Wednesday. The episode took place in the Museo Chiaramonti, part of the Vatican Museums, around lunchtime. The space holds around 1,000 works of ancient statuary, and describes itself as "one of the finest collections of Roman portraits" in the world.
The man had demanded to see the pope, according to newspaper Il Messaggero. When he was told he couldn't, he allegedly hurled one Roman bust to the floor. As he ran off, with staff in pursuit, he knocked down another. The two works of art have been taken to the inhouse workshop to be assessed. While around 2,000 years old, they are thought to be secondary works of art, rather than famous works.
As of Sept. 26, 81% of adults with ongoing symptoms of COVID lasting three months or longer -- or four out of five adults -- are experiencing limitations in their daily activities compared to before they had the virus. Additionally, 25% said they were experiencing significant limitations. Young adults between ages 18 and 29 had the highest share of people currently with long COVID who have trouble performing daily tasks, at 86.3%.
The White House and Department of Education are warning student loan borrowers not to fall for scams related to debt relief before the Biden administration enacts student loan forgiveness. Applications for the student debt relief program President Biden announced over the summer are set to open up in October, with scammers likely to try to take advantage of any confusion that could surround the initiative, the White House said on Wednesday.
Several robotics companies, including Boston Dynamics, are pledging not to support the weaponization of their products and are calling for others in the industry to do the same, according to a letter shared first with Axios. Robots, like drones before them, have a wide range of peaceful and even life-saving uses, but can be turned into war-fighting machines, too. Boston Dynamics CEO Robert Playter said, in an e-mailed statement: "We are concerned about recent increases in makeshift efforts by individuals attempting to weaponize commercially available robots."
AMC Entertainment Holdings said it has reached a first-of-its-kind deal with Netflix to show the sequel to the popular "Knives Out" mystery movie in theaters ahead of its release on the streaming platform. The Netflix film, "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery," will air at more than 200 of AMC's U.S. locations from Nov. 23 to Nov. 29, ahead of its December release on Netflix.
🎉 CHEERS TO THE FREAKIN' WEEKEND
What We're Watching: Mila Kunis starts in Luckiest Girl Alive dropping on Netflix today 👩🏻
What We're Reading: A new study that finds petting your dog can stimulate brain activity 🐶
What We're Eating: Butter boards are all the rage on TikTok... but they're getting mixed reviews 🧈
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[Top Banner Photo Credit: Getty Images]
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