…and welcome to the last trading day in Q3, and the stormy conditions it brings. This week has dealt further downside pressure to natural gas, but no further low for the year as the themes of strong supply and weak demand continue. Crude has done a non-stop-flip-flop, remaining choppy but lacking conviction as Euro debt concerns continue, and as global economic worries ebb-flow-ebb-flow. Next week brings a new month, a new quarter, and  a new set of data points to usher markets this way and that. But before then, enjoy the respite…with these bites:    

–Commodities head for biggest quarterly drop since 2008 on economic woes.

–Report says North American oil output to hit a record by 2016.

–Infographic of infographics.

–A brief economic explanation of Peak Oil.

–The 30-second guide to European problems.

–Long jumper leaps over three minis.(in all fairness 3 was easy, jumping 4 would be much more Evil Knievel-ly) .

–Dept. of Environmental Conservation releases fracking regulations.

–Art made in rice fields.

–The mathematics of basketball.

–Cellulosic ethanol and jatropha, too much too soon. 

–A third of people prefer texting to talking.

–New drilling techniques reshape oil world.

–Dumb-bell cutlery helps you eat yourself skinny.

The Burrito Deluxe Award of the Week goes to kabluey! a natural gas storage injection of  a hugely huge 111 Bcf. This keeps prices bouncing around the price lows for the year, with further triple-digit doozie injections literally in the pipeline over the coming weeks.  

The Burnt Burrito Award of the Week goes to the increasing comparisons of market conditions with 2008. Falling commodity prices = good. The reason they are falling = bad.

Have a top weekend!

Happy Friday! And as we plough through this first full week of the month, we have had a bumper crop of data releases to feed the market, all harvested in a short trading week too. Economic data has been decidedly mixed, with Nonfarm Friday leaving financial markets shaken not stirred today. This has erased a good chunk of this week’s rally in the crude market, while natural gas tethers itself around the 200-day moving average, as a whopper of a weekly storage injection stymies prices once more.  Hark, another Friday feast:  

–China to open new shale-gas areas this year to tap reserves, surpassing the US.

–Is natural gas an enemy to the smart grid (h/t Marty Hanna)

–Quiz time! Which type of American accent do you have? (I’m from the Northeast, apparently).

–Hydropower promises plain sailing for green investors.

–Airlines win approval to use biofuels on commercial flights.

–Quiz time again!: Muppet, Sesame Street, or Fraggle Rock?

–Peak coal and China.

–The Chinese Black Swan?

–Shed of the year.

–New EPA air pollution regulations will accelerate the switch from coal to natural gas.

–On a world tour…jellyfish keep UK nuclear plant shut…before jellyfish scourge threatens Israeli swimmers…and electricity.

–World map of useless stereotypes.

–GM gives natural gas cars a boost.

–Where the aliens are flying their UFOs.

The Burrito Deluxe Award of the Week goes to big injections into US natural gas storage. This week’s +95 Bcf was a whopping 8 Bcf away from the highest estimate (and surreally 25 Bcf away from the low-ball estimate), narrowing the deficit versus last year to 224 Bcf.   

The Burnt Burrito Award of the Week goes to unemployment data. And not just to the official BLS release showing an anemic 18k jobs created in June (…AND an increase to the unemployment rate to 9.2%…AND a fall in the number of weekly hours worked), but to the ADP report, which head-faked the market by telling a completely different story of decent job creation.

Have a convivial weekend!

Friday, a long weekend ahead, and Q3 kicked off - reasons to be cheerful, 1-2-3. And this week has brought the familiar twists and turns. Well actually, crude had been on the straight and narrow (higher) for most of this week, egged on by the exuberance of the response to the approval of a Greek austerity package, which has essentially ensured the survival of the Eurozone in its current form…for now. As for the good ship nat gas, it has shown moderate progress after bouncing from strong support around $4.20ish, as summer weather supports higher cooling demand, while the first-named storm of this Atlantic hurricane season reminds us we never know what is around the corner – so keep your eyes on the prize (exhibit 1, left). A long weekend awaits, so be sure to load up on sustenance:   

–Tycoon says Bakken field in North Dakota & Montana will yield 24 billion barrels.

–This little pig went to carbon market.

–10 buildings shaped like what they sell.

–France goes contrarian, pledges €1bn to nuclear power.

–A window that makes electricity.

–Beautifully happy and sad…photos re-staged.

–China is heading for a hard landing, Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. (China is an amazing story, Gary Shilling has an amazing mind).

–Why do airlines always lose money?

–Why rappers shouldn’t be currency traders.

–EPA: cheap natural gas will kill more coal plants than us.

–US can curb emissions even as it promotes oil economy.

–Flow charts at their very best. And 10 of them.

The Burrito Deluxe Award of the week goes to a long weekend for those of us in the US…Happy Independence Day! (down with the redcoats, etc, etc)

The Semi-Burnt Burrito Award of the week goes to global manufacturing data. Although China and the Eurozone saw expansion at their slowest pace since Feb 2009 and Dec 2009, respectively, the US saw expansion quicken for the first month in four.

The Secret Scrutinizer Award of the week goes to Ellen Stamm, for having an eagle eye at editing…muchas gracias!

Have a wonderful weekend.

Hooray for Fridays! And wowee - what a week it has been. The Opec meeting was a stormingly spectacular car-crash of a coming-together. As it descended to the depths of publicly-displayed dissatisfaction, natural gas was experiencing a volcanic rise higher before being struck down by lightning weekly storage. But enough chat for now, let’s chow:

–The top 6 oil producing states in the US.

–Special report from Reuters on Asia’s insatiable demand for energy.

–Pictorially, the most frequently used keys on a keyboard…or more philosophically…why QWERTY? 

–Natural gas in ‘the golden age?’

–North Sea oil production slumps on tax hikes.

–Sci-fi quilts.

–Aussies may undertake camel cull to curb methane.

–Oil-autocracy and drill! drill! drill! 

–Inventor crashes beer crate bike.

–Technology is key to Eagle Ford boom. 

–12 Clean energy trends to watch for (h/t L Bates) 

–From trash to tank – garbage turned into car fuel.

–Strange but useful human tricks.

–Economic literacy quiz. 

–Renewables and natty battle it out post-Fukushima.

–Biofuel from algae, wood chips approved for commercial flights.

–Luggage thieves hide in suitcase – complete with infographic (double h/t J Lenetsky).

The Burrito Deluxe Award of the Week goes to natural gas for coming to its senses as it approached five-dollardom.

The Burnt Burrito Award / Quote of the Week goes to…oh, it’s too easy sometimes…Opec, and ‘one of the worst meetings we have ever had’ - Ali al-Naimi, oil minister of Saudi Arabia.

Have an effervescent weekend!