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Oil prices hit 3-month highs on expectations OPEC+ will extend deepest-ever production cuts

Published

11 months ago

June 3, 2020

An Austrian army member stands next to the logo of the Organization of the Petroleoum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in front of OPEC’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria April 9, 2020.

Leonhard Foeger | Reuters

Oil prices continued to march higher on Wednesday, with Brent crude futures rising above $40 a barrel on expectations some of the world’s most powerful oil producers will reach a deal to extend supply cuts.

OPEC and non-OPEC allies, a group of oil producers sometimes referred to as OPEC+, are expected to hold their next meeting on Thursday.

It comes after OPEC member Algeria, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the group, proposed that the meeting should be brought forward from the original date of June 9-10.

In April, OPEC+ agreed to cut oil production by a record 9.7 million barrels per day (b/d), approximately 10% of global output. The move was designed to prop up prices as the coronavirus pandemic led to an unprecedented collapse in oil demand.

The production cuts began on May 1 and are set to run through to the end of June. Under the current deal, the cuts will then be tapered back to 7.7 million b/d from July through to the end of 2020, and 5.8 million b/d from January 2021 through to April 2022.

Brent crude futures traded at $40.33 a barrel on Wednesday, hitting its highest level since March 6 and up around 1.9% for the session. The international benchmark jumped over 3% on Tuesday.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures stood at $37.76 during morning deals, up over 2.5%. The contract also rose to its highest level since early March, building on gains of nearly 4% in the previous session.

Oil prices have soared in recent weeks, rebounding from the lows of April amid optimism about an economic recovery in China and as other economies seek to tentatively relax lockdown measures.

What options are on the table?

Analysts at research firm Eurasia Group believe the OPEC+ meeting will “probably” see the energy alliance agree to extend the commitment to reduce oil production by 9.7 million b/d from July to September.

“As usual, Russia is playing hard to get in the run up to the talks but will prove willing to compromise in the end. Crucially, the Russians will be keen to reach a common position with the Saudis to demonstrate that the OPEC+ partnership remains firm,” analysts at Eurasia Group said in a research note.

“As for the Saudis, a short-term extension is an acceptable option given that there will probably be room to revisit cuts based on developments in markets,” they added.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz Bin Salman sign documents during a ceremony following a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on October 14, 2019.

ALEXEY NIKOLSKY | SPUTNIK | AFP via Getty Images

Unlike the March meeting ahead of the Saudi-Russia price war, analysts believe the mood among key members of the energy alliance is now much more positive, with leaders of all the main oil producers aligned on the need to continue cooperation.

A deal to extend the current level of OPEC+ cuts through to the end of 2020 is also thought to be possible, although significantly less likely than a two- or three-month extension.

Uptrend in oil prices will ‘not last’

Tamas Varga, senior analyst at PVM Oil Associates, said those hoping for oil prices to climb above $50 a barrel will most likely have to wait until the latter part of 2021.

“We have long argued that the uptrend we have been seeing in the oil market and which started at the end of April would not last,” Varga said.

He argued that investors were viewing the current race to pre-pandemic economic activity “as a sprint,” whereas, in reality, “it is at least a half marathon.”

“This is not to say that prices will not go higher in the immediate future,” Varga said, particularly given the market optimism that is primarily based on a significant reduction in both OPEC and non-OPEC supplies.

The International Energy Agency warned late last month that the coronavirus crisis had set in motion the largest drop in global energy investment history, with spending set to plunge in every major sector this year.

It warned the economic impact of the crisis could have “serious” implications for energy security and clean energy transitions.

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/03/oil-prices-opec-likely-to-extend-deepest-ever-production-cuts-analysts-say.html

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Pinterest is reportedly in talks to acquire VSCO

Published

2 weeks ago

April 2, 2021

Republished by Plato

So what can Pinterest do to jump higher up the list of social networking sites? According to a report by the New York Times, one possibility is acquiring the owner of VSCO, the app for editing / sharing photos and videos that has brought in-depth tools to mobile users for years. Neither side directly confirmed the negotiations, and there’s no word on a possible price, but maybe combining forces can bring some Instagram-like glow.

As it is, Pinterest is still mostly known for planning and organizing, and as the NYT article points out, other than some recent acquisitions, VSCO is currently best known for the “VSCO girls” meme.

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Source: https://www.engadget.com/vsco-pinterest-014258107.html

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A sealed copy of ‘Super Mario Bros.’ just sold for $660,000

Published

2 weeks ago

April 2, 2021

Republished by Plato

A nearly perfect copy of Super Mario Bros. for the NES has sold for $660,000 at auction. In what turned out to be a 13-bidder contest, $550,000 went to the game’s original owner. The copy was one of the earliest shrink-wrapped versions of the games you could buy in the US (Super Mario Bros. eventually had 11 different box variants, according to WATA Games).

Heritage Auctions, the firm that oversaw the sale, told Ars Technica it dates back to late 1986. It was reportedly bought as a Christmas gift and sat unopened in a desk drawer for the better part of four decades. “I never thought anything about it,” the seller, who asked to remain anonymous, told the auction house.

The $660,000 this copy of Super Mario Bros. sold for is crazy when you consider the Nintendo PlayStation, a one-of-a-kind prototype representing a unique piece of gaming history, sold for $360,000 at auction last year. More recently, someone paid $156,000 to buy a pristine copy of Super Mario Bros. 3. It makes you wonder how much the owner would have walked away with had they simultaneously tried to cash in on the NFT craze somehow.

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Source: https://www.engadget.com/super-mario-bros-auction-000001095.html

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‘Lost Tapes of the 27 Club’ used Google AI to ‘write’ a new Nirvana song

Published

2 weeks ago

April 2, 2021

Republished by Plato

Were he still alive today, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain would be 52 years old. Every February 20th, on the day of his birthday, fans wonder what songs he would write if he hadn’t died of suicide nearly 30 years ago. While we’ll never know the answer to that question, an AI is attempting to fill the gap.

A mental health organization called Over the Bridge used Google’s Magenta AI and a generic neural network to examine more than two dozen songs by Nirvana to create a ‘new’ track from the band. “Drowned in the Sun” opens with reverb-soaked plucking before turning into an assault of distorted power chords. “I don’t care/I feel as one, drowned in the sun,” Nirvana tribute band frontman Eric Hogan sings in the chorus. In execution, it sounds not all that dissimilar from “You Know You’re Right,” one of the last songs Nirvana recorded before Cobain’s death in 1994.

Other than the voice of Hogan, everything you hear in the song was generated by the two AI programs Over the Bridge used. The organization first fed Magenta songs as MIDI files so that the software could learn the specific notes and harmonies that made the band’s tunes so iconic. Humorously, Cobain’s loose and aggressive guitar playing style gave Magenta some trouble, with the AI mostly outputting a wall of distortion instead of something akin to his signature melodies. “It was a lot of trial and error,” Over the Bridge board member Sean O’Connor told Rolling Stone. Once they had some musical and lyrical samples, the creative team picked the best bits to record. Most of the instrumentation you hear are MIDI tracks with different effects layered on top.

One thing neither AI gave direction on is how exactly Cobain would have sung the song. Outside of cadence and tone, Hogan had to interpret how the grunge star, who famously suffered from crippling stomach pain, would have channeled his anguish into the lyrics.

Over the Bridge isn’t the first group to use AI to emulate a dead artist. But the intent here is different from similar past projects. “Drowned in the Sun” is part of the organization’s Lost Tapes of the 27 Club initiative. They set out to record AI-generated songs by musicians who died at the age of 27 to raise awareness about mental health resources musicians, and people more generally, can turn to when they feel they need help. The Toronto-based non-profit has a Facebook page where it offers support. It also offers online sessions and workshops.

If you’re experiencing thoughts of suicide or self-harm, you can reach the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or over an online chat.

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Source: https://www.engadget.com/over-the-bridge-lost-tapes-of-the-27-club-223000315.html

CNBC

Microsoft’s online-only Build conference starts on May 25th

Published

2 weeks ago

April 2, 2021

Republished by Plato

Spring is fully upon us, which means the calendar is starting to fill up with high-profile tech events. And the latest addition? Microsoft confirmed today that its online-only Build developer conference will run between May 25th and May 27th, though there’s still no word on when registration will open. (If last year is any indication, our money is on “the end of April.”)

“Microsoft Build is where developers, architects, start-ups, and students learn, connect, and code together, sharing knowledge and expanding their skillset, while exploring new ways of innovating for tomorrow,” the company’s events page explains.

Unfortunately, Microsoft has yet to update its Build-specific webpage with information about this year’s priorities or schedule, but we’re almost certainly looking at another packed event. Last year, Microsoft went on (among other things) about improved collaboration tools for its suite of Office productivity apps, an AI-focused supercomputer running on its Azure cloud platform, and new cloud tools designed specifically for healthcare practitioners.

Historically, spring and summer are been jam-packed with large, in-person events where app and software developers get their first glimpse at upcoming platform and strategy updates, attend workshops and code reviews, and generally mingle with their colleagues. Starting last year, though, the worldwide coronavirus pandemic has forced companies that stage these events to rapidly rethink their approaches.

Some, like Microsoft and Apple, quickly pivoted to informative online-only affairs that include full days worth of sessions, demos and fireside chats. (For what it’s worth, Apple announced this week that its own Worldwide Developer Conference will also proceed as an online-only event from June 7-11.) Meanwhile, Google has not yet confirmed whether it plans to stage its Google I/O developer conference at all this year — the company cancelled the show entirely in 2020, but said last month that it does plan to host some version of its annual Google Cloud Next event this October.

Between a surge in COVID-19 vaccine production and news of relaxed restrictions for vaccinated travelers, Build 2021 may well be the last purely virtual developer conference Microsoft will ever need to put on. With any luck, devs will resume their pilgrimages to Seattle next year, and who knows — maybe those tiny emotional support horses from Build 2018 will show up again too.

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Source: https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-build-2021-may-25-to-27-developer-conference-official-212230206.html