Chronicles of the Virus Day 38. Supply and Demand.
I heard yesterday that oil futures fell on the stock market, so that, hypothetically, one could be paid to take delivery of oil in that month. What I don't remember is what month.
I wouldn't mind taking in about ten barrels or so, and being paid for it. My only problem is I don't have a refinery. I understand that it is a problem of supply and demand. Since industry is pretty much suspended, and car and airplane travel have dropped, there's much less demand. Brent oil, which I think is the reference price for Europe (I'm not sure since I don't really follow the stock markets), is at around nineteen euros a barrel. Just a few years ago, it was around a hundred euros.
I think the last time I put gas in my car was shortly after the quarantine began. At that moment, a liter of diesel was at €1.09 in our town. I just might go by the gas station to put in a couple of liters this week, just to see the price. Even though demand has gone down, though, the price at the pump will never return to what it was the last time the price of a barrel of oil was this low. Always, always, the middlemen reap profit.
The ideal future world would include turning away from fossil fuels. But not in the immediate future, because when things get going again, few people are going to be in a position to buy electric or hybrid cars. We weren't before, and we won't be later. But, offering more public transport, making it cheaper (or free), would help toward a more lasting transition over time. It would be beautiful if the recuperation could be done respecting the awe nature has been instilling in us these days.
I've just read that the running of the bulls in Pamplona this July is cancelled. The Tour de France has been pushed into August, though I doubt it will probably be held, and Munich's Oktoberfest has also been cancelled. The José Luis Perales concert we had tickets for in June has been moved to March of next year. O Son do Camiño concert in Santiago, scheduled for June, has been moved to the end of the year (yuck, in rainy, cold and dark fall and winter), and the Festival de Ortigueira in July has been cancelled. Other concerts and festivals are up in the air, as are all the parish festivals this summer. A dull summer is coming up. But, hopefully, a summer free of this virus and in which we can at least travel within a certain radius of kilometers from our homes. Who cursed us with living in interesting times?
Thirty years ago, a popular song came out, 20 de Abril. It's in the form of a letter, with the date 20 April, 1990, and quite melancholic. This year, the band which brought it out, Celtas Cortos, got together with other singers and sang a new version for a video to ask for donations for Doctors Without Borders. Music helps a lot of us get through tough times.
Life continues.
I wouldn't mind taking in about ten barrels or so, and being paid for it. My only problem is I don't have a refinery. I understand that it is a problem of supply and demand. Since industry is pretty much suspended, and car and airplane travel have dropped, there's much less demand. Brent oil, which I think is the reference price for Europe (I'm not sure since I don't really follow the stock markets), is at around nineteen euros a barrel. Just a few years ago, it was around a hundred euros.
I think the last time I put gas in my car was shortly after the quarantine began. At that moment, a liter of diesel was at €1.09 in our town. I just might go by the gas station to put in a couple of liters this week, just to see the price. Even though demand has gone down, though, the price at the pump will never return to what it was the last time the price of a barrel of oil was this low. Always, always, the middlemen reap profit.
The ideal future world would include turning away from fossil fuels. But not in the immediate future, because when things get going again, few people are going to be in a position to buy electric or hybrid cars. We weren't before, and we won't be later. But, offering more public transport, making it cheaper (or free), would help toward a more lasting transition over time. It would be beautiful if the recuperation could be done respecting the awe nature has been instilling in us these days.
I've just read that the running of the bulls in Pamplona this July is cancelled. The Tour de France has been pushed into August, though I doubt it will probably be held, and Munich's Oktoberfest has also been cancelled. The José Luis Perales concert we had tickets for in June has been moved to March of next year. O Son do Camiño concert in Santiago, scheduled for June, has been moved to the end of the year (yuck, in rainy, cold and dark fall and winter), and the Festival de Ortigueira in July has been cancelled. Other concerts and festivals are up in the air, as are all the parish festivals this summer. A dull summer is coming up. But, hopefully, a summer free of this virus and in which we can at least travel within a certain radius of kilometers from our homes. Who cursed us with living in interesting times?
Thirty years ago, a popular song came out, 20 de Abril. It's in the form of a letter, with the date 20 April, 1990, and quite melancholic. This year, the band which brought it out, Celtas Cortos, got together with other singers and sang a new version for a video to ask for donations for Doctors Without Borders. Music helps a lot of us get through tough times.
Life continues.
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