Episode 109 - Emerging nations & China | Venezuelan gold to Iran | Oil at two-month high

Published: May 19, 2020, 7:58 p.m.

b'Poor Countries Borrowed Billions from China. They Can\\u2019t Pay It Back.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/business/china-loans-coronavirus-belt-road.html
- China has loaned money for projects to make developing nations. They can\\u2019t pay because their economies are down from Coronavirus. China is open to renegotiating debt but not forgiving it.
- Many countries have discovered that Belt and Road Initiatives from China aren\\u2019t all they had cracked up to be. Nothing good happening for countries.
- Beijing is a bigger lender than the World Bank and the IMF at this point.
- Many African nations would prefer that the US rather than China fund these projects. But its harder for the US due to legal restrictions but there is an opportunity here because African countries are dissatisfied with China

Iran Is Hauling Gold Bars Out of Venezuela\\u2019s Almost-Empty Vaults
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-30/iran-is-hauling-gold-bars-out-of-venezuela-s-almost-empty-vaults

Iran warns US of \'firm response\' if action taken against its fuel tankers
https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/oil/051820-iran-warns-us-of-firm-response-if-action-taken-against-its-fuel-tankers

Oil jumps to two-month high on easing lockdowns, positive vaccine results
https://in.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idINKBN22U033
- will be see demand surge based on normal indicators?
- If China returns to pre-Coronavirus demand so soon, can we get there too?
- Was the Vaccine headline really worthy of the jump in oil prices? Very preliminary.

Oil jumps 8% to two-month high above $31 as June futures contract nears expiration
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/18/oil-news-crude-wti-brnet-prices-today.html

Traders feared June oil futures would go negative, instead they expire Tuesday possibly above $30
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/18/oil-outlook-vastly-different-than-when-it-plunged-into-negative-territory-a-month-ago.html
- Last month\\u2019s negative pricing was a fluke, at the June expiry WTI is above $32
- No one is freaking out about storage anymore
- Enterprise CEO said there\\u2019s no storage problem, aren\\u2019t going to hit the top
- Actual storage level was only at 60% not 70% as people had been saying
- Energy Transfer and Enterprise offered to turn pipelines into storage

Global Oil 2000 in Forbes
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenrwald/2020/05/13/global-2000-saudi-aramco-debuts-as-worlds-largest-oil-company-while-industry-reels-from-crisis/#430dd126999f

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