1bn barrels
The global oil market is getting closer to rebalancing supply and demand, but the short-term market still points to a surplus. There is an estimated 700m-1bn barrels of oil inventories built over the last three years and US continues to see rising drilling rig levels rise amidst growth in shale output returns.
In the meantime, leading OPEC producers are warning
of a looming oil shortage as a $1tn drop in investments into future production takes effect.
One of them claims that 20m barrels a day in future production capacity was required to meet demand growth and offset natural field declines in the coming years.
$2trn
The part privatisation of Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s national oil company, is causing a huge stir well beyond the energy market and the offices of bankers and lawyers vying for contracts.
Its powerful backers expect a valuation of $2tn. Even a partial slice of its business is likely to add up to the biggest ever initial public offering. A $2tn valuation would be equivalent to two-thirds the size of the London Stock Exchange, one of the markets on which Aramco may list. And it would make Aramco more than twice the size of Apple, the world’s biggest company. But that $2tn figure is hard to believe. Instead an FT analysis points to a valuation roughly half that size.
$3bn loss
Uber, the world’s most-valued technology company is raising eye brows over how rapidly it is burning cash as it expands to more than 70 countries. Uber is also pouring cash into incentive payments for its drivers.
Uber recorded a $2.8bn loss in 2016 in the middle of an aggressive global expansion, cementing its place as the most heavily-lossmaking private company in the history of Silicon Valley. The San Francisco-based transportation company also grew rapidly over the year, reporting net revenues of $6.5bn for 2016. This makes Uber significantly larger than companies such as Yahoo, Twitter, Snapchat or Airbnb in terms of revenue.
0.4%
Donald Trump never likes to admit defeat, but in attempting to talk down the dollar he is following the adage: “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”.
The dollar fell about 0.4 per cent against the euro and relinquished an advance against the yen after Mr Trump’s comments. The global forex market is valued at $5trn.
In the past the US president brandished Germany, Japan and China as currency manipulators, accusing them of deliberately keeping their currencies weak to gain a competitive edge for exports. However, in the last week he declared that “our dollar is getting too strong.” If a leader of another country said what he did, they would likely be accused of manipulating their currency.
4.6%
One rare good news for the beleaguered South African economy. In spite of a contraction in manufacturing and retail sales, things are looking up for the economy with a boost from the mining sector. Four days ago, Statistics SA said mining production saw an increase of 4.6% year on year in February 2017.
Although the mining sector accounts for only 8% of SA’s GDP, economists believe its recovery may help lift other sectors, especially manufacturing. The two main positive contributors were platinum group metals, which were up 47.2% and contributed 6.1 percentage points; and iron ore, which was up 20.9% and contributed 3.3 percentage points.
