Drones, Deals, and Jumbo Crabs: A Holiday Buzz in the Oil Industry
There has been much hub bub on the news these days about drones. It’s somewhat perplexing. A drone is a male bee. Unlike the female worker bee, a drone has no stinger. He does not gather nectar or pollen and cannot feed without assistance from worker bees. His only role is to mate with a maiden queen in nuptial flight. It seems like a good gig if you can get it, but certainly not headline news.
The Tank Tiger was pleased to see so many of our industry colleagues at the crude oil holiday events in Miami Beach last week. It certainly reflects on the fact that oil producers had a pretty good year. While refiners might not be jumping for joy with the same level of holiday glee, we all know that eventually everyone gets their turn at the punch bowl. So while all of the elves are busy making toys, The Tank Tiger was busy assisting our customers in securing storage to suit their needs. Recent requests for storage last week included clean products, amines, Base Oil, Paraffin Wax, pyrolysis oil and asphalt. We never quit and will keep searching for the best match for your storage needs. Don’t question our behavior, trust us.
Bumpers on a bowling lane are barriers that prevent balls from falling into the gutters. They are typically used for beginners or young children, but can also help people who have difficulty aiming the ball. Perhaps the same can be said for crude oil traders. Since late October the price has been rangebound, moving between $67 and $72. The downtrend trend that commenced in the spring has taken a notable pause, although any news related price increases have time after time been tamped down as well. There is talk about incremental sanctions on Russia and Iran and that is most likely what supported prices last week. Brent closed Friday at $74.49 a barrel and WTI hit the tape at $71.29. It was a healthy 6% weekly gain for WTI. Perhaps that’s why so many Jumbo crabs being scarfed at Joe’s Stone Crabs last week.
