Barrel roll: Oil extended losses below $48 a barrel amid speculation that U.S. inventories will expand, deepening a global supply glut that has driven prices to a five-year low. Bloomberg reports futures declined for a fourth day. Stockpiles in the world’s biggest oil-consuming country probably rose by 700,000 barrels last week, a Bloomberg News survey showed before a government report tomorrow. Oil’s price slumped almost 50% in 2014, the most since the 2008 financial crisis, after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries resisted calls to cut output as it competes with U.S. producers.
Trickling down: It may be hard to find much pity for oil companies, which could lose out on $44 billion in profit due to sliding oil prices, but USA Today reports there are several non-oil companies—and their workers—that also could feel the pain from oil’s slide. Cheap oil also is a big problem for companies such as Foster Wheeler and Joy Global that build facilities that extract oil and gas from the earth. These construction and engineering companies are the biggest ones at risk of losing out from the falling price of oil, although the pain already is felt by businesses making oil production equipment. Read the full story.
Going to the mat: The White House today threatened to veto the first piece of legislation introduced in the Republican-controlled Senate—a bill approving the much-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline—in what was expected to be the first of many confrontations over energy and environmental policy. The Associated Press reports that hours after supporters of the bipartisan bill, which is sponsored by all 54 Senate Republicans and six Democrats, announced its introduction, the White House announced for the first time that President Barack Obama would veto it. “If this bill passes this Congress, the president wouldn’t sign” it, White House spokesman Josh Earnest says. However, Earnest also said the legislation shouldn’t undermine the review process underway at the State Department or circumvent a pending lawsuit in Nebraska over its route. Read the full story.
