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There have been consistent whispers during the Trump Campaign of a national infrastructure deal just around the corner.   While the whispers persist, there has not been any strong progression towards improving the national infrastructure. Multiple attempts have been made, but they have all fallen apart due to disagreement on the cost associated, where the cash will come from, and what sectors to prioritize. Typically, the first few years of a presidency are difficult to get alignment on topics. Infrastructure improvement seems to be an agreement on both sides. With the senate now split 50/50, Vice President elect, Kamala Harris’ vote could be the sway necessary to nudge the US infrastructure deal into action. With the American Society of Civil Engineers grading out the United states as a D+ on the current infrastructure, we certainly could use some renovations.

Canada has an emphasis on minimizing their carbon footprint. Recently they committed to $20 million for the construction and distribution of small modular nuclear power plants. These single, small, modular power plants would be able to produce up to 300MWe (megawatt of electric capacity). For reference, that would be enough to power 150K to 200K homes. The benefit of these units would certainly be the transportation flexibility for more isolated communities with minimal waste.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock since February 2020, you’ve probably noticed the economic impact worldwide of the novel corona-virus, Covid-19. There has been little to no positive news even as Governors ease restrictions and states/counties move from red to yellow to green phases, until the May 2020 unemployment rates were released days ago. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May saw an increase of 2.5 million jobs and an unemployment rate of 13.3%, down from April’s 14.7%. This number came as a overwhelmingly positive shock as most experts had predicted it to increase to near 20%, the worst figure since the Great Depression.[1]

Over the past few months, there has been a lot of negativity in the global fuels market.  The price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic are at the top of the list when it comes to driving crude oil prices to historic lows.  However, recently there has been some small and simple actions that show signs of turnaround in a positive direction in the crude market. The Texas Railroad commission, production cuts, relaxing of local travel restrictions, and construction resuming, will all have a positive influence on the oil market.