Social media influencers charged in a pump-and-dump scheme. Federal prosecutors and...
Social media influencers charged in a pump-and-dump scheme. Federal prosecutors and the SEC have accused seven popular Twitter and Discord users of wielding social media to manipulate stock prices—pumping the shares and then selling off mass quantities for profit once they rose. An additional defendant, whose Twitter handle was @DipDeity, was charged with aiding and abetting the alleged fraud for hosting a podcast that featured and promoted the seven influencers as skilled traders to follow. Each influencer charged had well over 100,000 followers and, according to the SEC, the group earned about $100 million total in the scheme.
Permian Basin earthquakes result in curtailed water injections
Just like Oklahoma did a few years ago after a long time of damaging earthquakes linked to oil and gas...
Just like Oklahoma did a few years ago after a long time of damaging earthquakes linked to oil and gas exploration, Texas regulators have adopted reductions in produced water injections in the Permian Basin.
The Texas Railroad Commission took the action this week following a 5.4 magnitude earthquake that rumbled across Reeves County on Nov. 16. The county covers a rich oilfield between Fort Stockton, Texas and Carlsbad, New Mexico. It is described as the Northern Culberson-Reeves Seismic Response Area.
The Irving Weekly reported regulators implemented curtailments on the injection volumes of produced water into disposal wells.
Oil futures end higher as traders weigh demand, supplies and Fed decision
Oil futures ...
Oil futures finished higher on Wednesday, finding support after the International Energy Agency raised its 2022 and 2023 forecasts for oil demand growth. Data from the Energy Information Administration revealed a 10.2 million-barrel weekly rise in U.S. crude inventories. However, analysts said a decline in U.S. Gulf Coast exports due to a temporary disruption at the Houston Ship Channel contributed to the supply increase. Oil prices modestly pared their gains after the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.5 percentage point and also penciled in 5.25% as the top end for its benchmark rate. The fear is that the Fed’s restrictive policy stance could ease the demand for oil, and keep prices under wraps, said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at The Price Futures Group. The U.S. benchmark WTI crude for January deliveryCLF23, rose $1.89, or 2.5%, to settle at $77.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest finish since Dec. 2.
U.S. stocks end lower as Fed delivers rate hike and signals peak above 5%
U.S. stocks ended lower in choppy trade after the Federal Reserve raised rates another 50 basis points...
U.S. stocks ended lower in choppy trade after the Federal Reserve raised rates another 50 basis points at its final rate-setting meeting of 2022, a year in which the central bank has quickly jacked up its policy rate to its highest level in 15 years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, ended down about 142 points, or 0.4%, near 33,966, but was well off the session's low of 33,704.17, according to FactSet. The S&P 500 index SPX, fell 0.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, shed 0.8%. Fed Chair Powell, in an afternoon news briefing, said more work still needs to be done to ensure that inflation follows a concrete path lower to its 2% annual target, even though November's consumer-price index this week showed a slowing to a 7.1% annual rate from a peak level above 9% this summer. The Fed's "dot plot" also indicated the central bank's policy rate could peak next year at 5.25%, above an earlier 4.75% forecast. Although, the revised forecast still isn't that far off the Fed's current federal funds range of 4.25% to 4.5%. Treasury yields rose Wednesday, with the benchmark 10-year rate at 3.503%.
US Energy Secretary Offers Olive Branch to Oil and Gas Industry
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm extended an olive branch to...
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm extended an olive branch to the oil and gas industry, telling executives at a meeting in Washington that she recognizes fossil fuels will be around for a long time,even as the Biden administration works to transition away from them to cleaner alternatives.
“We are eager to work with you,” she said at the Wednesday meeting of the National Petroleum Council, an outside federal advisory group that includes executives from Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc. “Moving too fast could have unintended consequences that hurt people, cause backlash.”
Her remarks come at the end of the year that’s seen a deterioration in the relationship between the industry and the White House. Biden has accused fossil fuel companies of price gouging and has weighed additional taxes on their profits as well as curbs on exports of refined oil products.
Granholm nodded to that friction Wednesday, beginning her remarks by acknowledging the “elephant in the room”and that the administration has “butted heads” with industry. Fossil fuel production will need to increase in the near future to meet growing demand, including a shortage of diesel in the Northeast US, she said.
