IPC Week Recap Plus the latest on The Fed
Today, The Tank Tiger is just wrapping up our annual visit to the IPC AFPM in San Antonio. It was awesome to see that our service is really growing in the chemical space to go along with our traditional bread and butter role on the petroleum side of the biz. Speaking of chemicals, check out our newest listing for available chemical storage in Houston. Come and get it. It certainly has been a busy month of March, starting with our Kirby Ice House Happy Hour in Houston where we hosted 150 guests and dozens of different companies – and then shaking more hands at the AFPM in Grapevine and CERAweek back in Houston. We’re very aware of the fact that as the number of different customers we serve continues to grow, our clearinghouse service becomes even more valuable to all. It’s all very exciting as we enter our 9th year of operation – proof of concept that the hub and spoke model is an efficient method of information dissemination. So anyway, it was great seeing everyone. You know who you are.
It’s not just Houston that is starting to heat up. Last week, the stock market notched its best weekly performance of 2024. The Fedspeak emboldened investors as Chairman Powell is standing behind a semi promise of three interest rate cuts this year. On the other hand, oil prices settled lower on Friday, ending the week with a loss, as talks of an Israel-Hamas ceasefire sent the bulls to the sidelines. Furthermore, US production growth looks to continue as these higher prices are encouraging the domestics to drill baby drill. More oil on the market might reverse the trend of declining inventories. Could contango be far behind? WTI Crude prices settled Friday at $80.63 a barrel.
Of course, there’s always government intervention looking to steal the punch bowl. The EPA announced their tailpipe emissions standards for model year 2027-2032 passenger vehicles. By the end of that period, the U.S. vehicle fleet is mandated to average a tailpipe emission target of 85 grams/mile— something that gas, diesel or hybrid vehicles simply cannot do. The only way to meet this goal would be for US automakers to sell more electric vehicles. Way more. Commensurate with that, there was so much talk of GREEN energy at CERAWeek, one would have thought we were celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. In the midst of this, we were exceedingly delighted that The Tank Tiger was able to unveil our online digital platform with a presentation at CERAweek. We had a Guinness and lunch at Huynh to celebrate. Slainte.
