So, I guess since I set the precedent last week, I have to Hillary up this week’s edition of the blog, the only unfortunate part being that a) I am on vacation, so time, access to electronics and, quite frankly, motivation is a bit lacking; and b) I don’t know if it is either appropriate or normal to write a poem about a female candidate for president.

Hmm, let’s just think about that for a second. Hillary Clinton is the first woman ever to be nominated by a major party to run for President of the United States. Remarkable. And remarkable for the fact that it should have happened ages ago.

The convention in Philadelphia, although marked by cranky Bernie Sanders supporters, was a celebration of optimism, inclusivity, togetherness and American exceptionalism. A roster consisting of Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Barack Obama and countless others were there to support Clinton. Even Katy Perry was there!

She gave a good speech, it outlined what she was trying to accomplish, some policy platform, why she wanted the job. It was even, almost, inspirational. At the very least it was aspirational. I watched it, and at the end I was not depressed and fearful. I thought – I don’t agree with everything she stands for, but I think I could vote for this person.

And Hillary’s a good candidate: experienced, thoughtful and intelligent. She has a track record of public service that would shame anyone running against her. Yet apparently she carries a lot of baggage: questions about her character (Drumpf calls her Lyin’ Hillary), her actions as Secretary of State regarding the attack on the embassy in Benghazi, Libya, her email management, her relationship to Bill, the philandering husband, her work with the Clinton Foundation and donations received, her choice of clothing…

But through it all, what is interesting to me (aside from all the anger and hate all over the place) is that people are spending so much time with Hillary looking for reasons TO NOT support her – the same amount of time and effort people seem to be spending looking for reasons TO support Drumpf. Seriously, what is up with that? Wouldn’t it be easier and way less stressful to just reverse that?

So here’s an idea, can we just skip the whole nonsense? No one wants Drumpf and no one can make enough excuses to elevate him to the role of most powerful Cheeto in the wold. Conversely, Hillary has the team, the temperament and the experience to do the job and not screw it up for us and our kids. If the choice is between a Democratic platform of hope versus a Republican platform of fear, hope wins every time.

Prices as at July 29, 2016 (July 22, 2016)

• The price of oil ended the week down
  • Storage posted a surprise increase
  • Production was up as an Alaska anomaly was corrected
  • The rig count was up
  • The market reacted to high levels of gasoline inventory
• Natural gas bounced around during the week, finishing on an upswing..

• WTI Crude: $41.42 ($44.19)
• Nymex Gas: $2.876 ($2.777)
• US/Canadian Dollar: $0.7670 ($ 0.7607)

Highlights

• As at July 15, 2016, US crude oil supplies were at 521.1 million barrels, an increase of 1.6 million barrels from the previous week and 61.4 million barrels ahead of last year.
  • The number of days oil supply in storage was 31.3, ahead of last year’s 27.4.
  • Production was up for the week at 8.515 million barrels per day. Production last year at the same time was 9.413 million barrels per day. The change in production this week came from a recovery in Alaska deliveries and a drop in lower 48 production.
  • Imports rose during the week to 8.437 million barrels a day, compared to 7.545 million barrels per day last year.
  • Refinery inputs were down during the week at 16.586 million barrels a day
• As at July 22, 2016, US natural gas in storage was 3,294 billion cubic feet (Bcf), which is 19% above the 5-year average and about 15% higher than last year’s level, following an implied net injection of 17 Bcf during the report week.
  • Overall U.S. natural gas consumption was up 5% during the week driven by power consumption
  • A heat wave is expected to boost consumption in the coming weeks
  • Production for the week was flat and imports from Canada rose 11%
• As of July 25, the Canadian rig count was at 96 (14% utilization), 62 Alberta (13%), 13 BC (17%), 19 Saskatchewan (16.5%), 2 Manitoba (13%)). Utilization for the same period last year was about 20%.
• Oil rig count at July 29 was at 374, up 3 from the week prior.
  • Rig count at January 1, 2015 was 1,482
• Natural gas rigs drilling in the United States was down 2 at 86.
  • Rig count at January 1, 2015 was 328
• US split of Oil vs Gas rigs is 80%/20%, in Canada the split is 20%/80%
• Offshore rig count was flat at 19
  • Offshore rig count at January 1, 2015 was 55

Drillbits

• On July 25, the liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessel Maran Gas Apollonia became the first-ever LNG vessel to transit the recently expanded Panama Canal. The vessel is carrying LNG sourced from the U.S.-based Sabine Pass liquefaction terminal located in Louisiana. The expanded Panama Canal can now accommodate 90% of the world LNG tanker fleet.
• Husky Energy’s pipeline spill is a major balck eye for industry at a time where pipeline politics are about as toxic in Canada as presidential politics are south of the border. The sooner the cleanup is done and the specifics behind the leak are known, the better
• Results continue to come in and the impact of the Fort Mac fires is being felt from industry heavyweight Suncor ($735 million loss) to pipeline operator Enbridge (47% decline in Q2 earnings) to CNOOC (estimated $1.2 billion first half loss including a write-down of its Canadian investments)..
• Drumpf Watch – Apparently Drumpf has a thing for Putin. Likes his style, wants him to hack more emails and impoact US elections, may let him keep Crimea. So much for the last 70 years!