Hemantha Yapa Abeywardena

Oil prices on decline – again! – By Hemantha Yapa Abeywardena   Source : oilfutures  The price of crude oil is back on decline, having been on the rise for about three weeks. As of 13:00 GMT on Tuesday, the prices of WTI and Brent were at $77.94 and $81.97 respectively.  Although some analysts were quick to predict a surge in oil prices due to the attacks carried out by Israel on Saturday, on Hodeidah port in Yemen, targetting oil facilities, it did not materialise. On the contrary, the prices of oil went down, recording that of WTI, below $80. The fossil fuel markets, at present, are in need of a sustainable catalyst. The combination of hyping-up the conflicts in the Middle East and the exaggerated impact of them on the energy markets, certainly is not one of them; its perceived significance appeared to have run its course, judging by the ...

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Donald Trump & JD Vance – a political marriage made in heaven! – By Hemantha Yapa Abeywardena The contrast of the paths to politics between the two American politicians couldn’t be starker: President Trump was born with a silver spoon in his mouth whereas his vice-presidential pick, JD Vance, was born into utter poverty in a remote corner of the vast nation, to be brought up by a single mother, who had been forced to fight two different struggles simultaneously by her fate, – a drug addiction and making a living for the family. JD Vance, 39, wrote a book in his early 30s, highlighting his early struggles and that of his community in grasping the reality on the ground, where he was brought up. At present, I am reading the book, ‘Hillbilly Elegy’, by JD Vance and his no-holds barred account of what he and the very community that ...

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Oil Price: cloudy outlook with bearish tendencies – By Hemantha Yapa Abeywardena Source : oilfutures The slow growth rate of China’s GDP, around 5% according to the latest forecasts,  coupled with the falling gas prices, is clearly inhibiting the potential rise of global oil prices.   China, the world’s top oil importer and second largest consumer after the US, enjoyed four decades of robust growth that used to be close to 10% – the envy of the developed world.  The latest data from China’s Bureau of Statistics, the world’s second largest economy is heading towards its own new ‘normal’ – a relatively modest growth around 5%.   Although China still manages to keep its economy growing despite many headwinds, the concerns on many fronts eclipse the growth picture: its frosty relationships with the West, uneasy diplomatic relations with the neighbours, especially around the South China Sea and of course, its troubled neighbourly ...

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The marvels of captured sound – Edison’s phonograph – By Hemantha Yapa Abeywardena   I don’t know why I am obsessed with Edison’s this particular invention in the digital age – a variant of the phonograph. For sure, it was not the levels of sophistication as it has none of it. On the contrary, it may be the spontaneous attraction to its sheer simplicity. I bought its modern equivalent, a few years ago with loads of old vinyl records to play them on it, when I am not inclined to limber up. Of course, I don’t mind paying the little price by changing the records from time to time in order to make the playing continue! The gadget in question, Edison’s phonograph, is the grandfather of all modern record players, from turntables to cassette /DVD players.     The sound produces from the records, despite being decades old, never loses ...

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Iranian New President: a heart surgeon who gauges nation’s pulse – well! – By Hemantha Yapa Abeywardena Source : oilfutures Iranians elected a new president on Friday in a run-off election, who has pledged to take the country out of international isolation while promising women more rights that include relaxing the strict dress code – the compulsory hijab-wearing in public. Dr Masoud Pezeshkian, the president elect, aged 69, is a former heart surgeon, who had been a minister of health before, in a reformist government from 2001 to 2005. In the first round of the presidential election that was held on June 28 due to the unexpected death of the former president, Ibrahim Raisi, in a helicopter crash, Dr Pezeshkian marginally won the race while beating Saeed Jalili, his nearest rival and a conservative hardliner, who promised to uphold the status quo.  During the heated political debates in the runup to ...

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The Double-Edged Sword: Falling Oil Prices and Regional Impacts – By Hemantha Yapa Abeywardena Source : oilfutures The price of crude oil slightly increased as the weekend approached, something that has been attributed to the rising tension in the Middle East between Israel and Hezbollah, the Shite military group in Lebanon.   As of 18:00 GMT, the prices of WTI and Brent were at $81.58 and $86.46 respectively. The price of LNG, liquified natural gas, meanwhile, was at $2,60. The US crude stocks, against all odds, rose again during the last week, deviating from the draw that was reported a week ago. It raises the prospect of feeble demand that has been the case for months; this is rather unexpected in the US, the world’s top consuming nation of the fossil fuels, despite the onset of the summer driving season. The fact that the price of oil slightly went up despite the ...

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Oil price: diverging forecasts on oil demand from two global giants – By Hemantha Yapa Abeywardena Source : oilfutures Data and Image: credit – IEA  IEA (2024), Annual oil demand growth, 2011-2025, IEA, Paris The Paris-based International Energy Agency, IEA, put a damper yet again on the perceived demand for oil in 2024 and 2025, in stark contrast to that of the OPEC+, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries plus Russia. According to IEA’s latest report on the subject, released in June, 2024, the growth will be a fairly modest 960 kbpd – 960 thousand barrels per day in 2024; it is a drop of 100 kbpd from IEA’s own previous estimate. The IEA cites a weaker demand in China for the drop in demand in this year. China’s PMI, the key indicator that reflects the manufacturing activity, for instance, has been in decline for two successive months, even below the ...

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News from London: Taylor Swift in Town – By Hemantha Yapa Abeywardena Taylor Swift, the American megastar and the singing sensation, is currently on tour in the United Kingdom and understandably, her fans have gone wild – millions of them. Miss Swift’s fans, known as Swifties, are desperate to see her live and willing to pay exorbitant prices for front-row seats, just like fans, who crave the best view in boxing, pay for ringside seats. Judging by the unravelling phenomenon wherever she sets her foot in, ‘Swifties’ may well be in the Oxford Dictionary in due course as a noun, exactly the way ‘google’ took a spot – at first as a noun and then, a verb in that order; the exponential growth of the fanbase across the globe can only make it much quicker, if not swifter. In Edinburgh, she performed to packed audiences last week that was reported as earth-shattering; ...

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Sharp rise in US crude stocks: the only chart that explains the oil price stagnation – By Hemantha Yapa Abeywardena Palpable anxieties in the oil markets The price of oil has been down for the fourth successive week with Brent hitting below $80 again. As of 18:00 GMT on Friday, the prices of WTI and Brent recorded $75.53 and $79.62 respectively.        The long-awaited meeting of the OPEC+, meanwhile, went ahead on Sunday, June 2, with some members opted for being online and the rest meeting in person. The members, although put on a brave front, tentatively agreed to extend the  production cuts beyond 2024 so that the dwindling prices can be shored up. It, however, appears to be easier said than done. At present, the OPEC+ cuts its production by 5.58 million bpd – barrels per day: there are 3.36 million bpd production cuts that were due ...

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Elon Musk: the only Earthling who owns a constellation! – By Hemantha Yapa Abeywardena Santa Claus, who annually delights us, both kids and adults alike, appears to be getting a rival for the grand constellation show – finally. There is a new man in town, who claims – quite rightly and legally, of course – that he owns a constellation of satellites. Up until now, theists used to believe only the Almighty owned them – all of them! Elon Musk, who holds the shifting-title, the world’s richest man, undoubtedly is a genius in the calibre of Newton, Tesla, Edison and many more, who helped mankind making progress in leaps and bounds during the passage of time with many things that we take for granted today; if there is sub-species under sapiens in the human taxonomy chain as ‘geniuses’, Mr Musk certainly has an undisputed slot in it. Of course, there ...

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