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Benzene hits a floor

Regular readers of the blog will know that it believes price movements in benzene have great predictive power. This is due to the fact that benzene is one of the oldest of the major chemicals, and has the widest industrial usage. Thus in March , when benzene prices hit a "ceiling", the blog...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 11-21-2008
US equities and crude oil follow each other

An interesting note from PetroMatrix highlights the close linkage that has now developed between changes in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and WTI crude oil prices. The chart, showing market action on Thursday, makes the point very clearly. PetroMatrix's analysis suggests that "the correlation...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 11-18-2008
OPEC tries to hold the oil price

OPEC has called an emergency summit for 18 November 'to discuss the global financial crisis, the world economic situation and the impacts on the oil market'. Its president, Chakib Khelil, added that it was 'very likely' they would cut output. This morning's price is already down to...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 10-10-2008
'Demand and prices in free fall'

The moment the blog has long feared, and warned about , may be about to arrive. It appears that we may be about to revisit 1980, when for some weeks it seemed that demand for many petchem products had simply stopped. As Nigel Davis notes in an excellent ICIS insight article , we are not there yet. But...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 10-07-2008
Polymers demand slumps in Europe, China

ICIS news reports that polymer demand is falling sharply in two key markets, China and Europe. This is a bad omen for demand in other chemical markets, as polymers are closely tied to GDP growth. Linda Naylor reports that PE volumes in Europe may be down 7% in 2008. Meanwhile, John Richardson and Malini...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 09-28-2008
No news from Iran on nuclear issue

There seems to have been no response from Iran to the 2 week deadline set by the US and Europe on the nuclear issue. Over the weekend, Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said 'the Iranian nation would not retreat one iota from its rights.' Earlier, Israel's deputy Prime Minister, Shaul...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 08-04-2008
Intel's Grove calls for electric cars

A new debate about increasing US energy security, by reducing gasoline dependence, may be getting underway. Leading the move is Andy Grove, the man who made Intel into the leading global chip company. His key phrase, and the title for his 1996 book, was 'Only the paranoid survive'. Now he is...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 07-21-2008
US, Iran to meet - crude drops $20/bbl

I suggested at the weekend that the Iran issue had the potential to move oil prices by $50/bbl either way. Since then, prices have fallen $20/bbl to $130/bbl, on news that the USA and Iran will meet tomorrow for the first time in nearly 30 years. If they reach agreement on the nuclear issue, oil prices...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 07-18-2008
Bank of England warns on inflation

Andrew Sentance of the Bank of England has issued a very clear analysis of current oil and commodity price movements. It rejects the view that these have been caused by speculators. Instead it points to increasing demand, and lack of supply, as the principal causes of today's higher prices. The slide...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 07-17-2008
US drivers cut back - a little

Yesterday's US government data on gasoline consumption gives the clearest picture yet of what is happening to US demand. The data compares the 4 weeks covering the July 4 Independence Day weekend, with the same period last year. And it shows gasoline demand was down just 2.1%, even though oil prices...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 07-17-2008

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