Welcome to the Fuel Matters Blog

We are a mere 7 days into a new year, and have already seen the first oil rally in the markets. Many factors have played a role in the first rally of the new year. Oil has been tumultuous over the last 11 months but has seen some stability and positivity since Biden’s election win in November. Biden was confirmed by the senate to be the 46^th President of the United States of America and he will have a democratic controlled House and Senate to put his plans into action.

Although Black Friday and Cyber Monday are behind us, most Americans still have a large portion of their holiday shopping to complete. In a year of turmoil and pandemic scammers have gotten very sly in their manipulative ways to steal gifts, money, and personal identity, especially in the new digital world we live in where online shopping for the holidays is expected to increase by 30%. Emails, text messages, and now curbside pickup are all ways to be scammed out of your holiday goods.[1]

News of the Pfizer vaccine is spreading like wildfire around the world today. Covid-19 has killed more than 1.2 million people the world over. Today, Pfizer announced a vaccine that has a 90% effective rate with no serious safety concerns. If these numbers are to hold true, Pfizer’s new vaccine would hold up to the childhood disease vaccines like measles. Additionally, Pfizer says it expects to have 15 to 20 million vaccines ready in the US by year’s end provided the FDA issue emergency authorization later this month. They also predict to have over 100 million doses ready worldwide.[1]

The US election is a mere 3 weeks away and most experts agree that oil will remain on steady ground until after the election is decided. Covid-19, renewables, and consumer behaviors have brought crude to the brink several times since March. The US Shale industry has been forced to endure the worst market conditions in crude history over the past 6 months. Most recently, crude has spiked and leveled off several times in the last couple weeks, but analysts believe it should remain trading between $40-$43/bbl through the election.

Climate change continues to be a hot topic in both the US and the world over. You can’t discuss climate change without the terms greenhouse gasses (GHG’s) and fossil fuels. In one hand you have fossil fuels and greenhouse gasses, and in the other you have renewables. Energy and transportation are two leading causes of GHG’s. Fossil Fuels have traditionally powered both, but renewables have been gaining traction, and quickly. Covid-19 and the OPEC+ fallout earlier this year hit the energy and transportation industries especially hard. In the transportation industry, renewables don’t come in the traditional form as it does in the energy sector where we see water, wind, and solar. Instead, renewables come in the form of electric, hybrids, and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV’s). There is a lot of dis/misinformation regarding this topic so we will take a small, broad look into some data of the newest wave of technology, PHEV’s.