Energy Industry

Diesel market continues to trend lower after upward movement earlier in the week

The head transportation analyst at Deutsche Bank says a market that sped up through the second quarter has raced ahead so far in the third

Commodity diesel prices are up just a few cents from the end of last week

Gasoline soars but diesel inventories are plentiful, curbing impact of possible refinery shutdowns

Driven by tax breaks, production is rising of the fuel that is a one-to-one substitute for conventional diesel.

With the release of the identities of the biggest recipients of money under the Paycheck Protection Program, reviewing all the names of those who got money and figuring out how this will impact the industry’s operations is now the hot topic of discussion in trucking. On this week’s Drilling Deep podcast, host John Kingston sits […]

Nikola experienced a V-shaped recovery in its share price as storytelling in place of revenue drives enthusiasm and disdain for publicly traded electric truck startups.

Amazon uses a lot of energy and emits a lot of pollution, but it is taking aggressive steps to be eco-friendly. Case in point: Amazon Air buying biofuel for its aircraft.

The California Air Resources Board has mandated a percentage of zero-emission Class 8 trucks must be built for sale in California. Darren Prokop’s commentary covers the ins and outs of this regulatory mandate.

On this week’s Drilling Deep podcast, David Roush of KSM Transport Advisors, who has a wealth of experience in the sector, tackles several issues on the minds of truckers everywhere.  Why do some companies take freight with a lousy price? What does it mean to get ready for a post-COVID-19 world? And what does capacity […]

Company has new DIP financing and new financing for when it exits bankruptcy, will continue operating

With 1 million real-world electric miles, Motiv Power Systems sees growing customer reorders previewing a breakout for battery-powered medium-duty trucks.

Nuverra completes first phase of a pilot on water disposal, soon after it kicked off a three-year deal with another blockchain provider.

Surging shares in electric Class 8 truck maker Nikola Corp. could help show the way for other high-tech transportation companies this year.

Daimler Trucks AG is creating a fuel cell subsidiary as a forerunner to a 50-50 joint venture with Volvo Group to make fuel cell-powered backup systems for data centers and eventually hydrogen-fueled heavy-duty trucks.

Move holds off a return of almost 2 million barrels per day to the market

The U.S. has plenty of diesel in inventory, and jet demand is not likely to snap back until next year, according to Energy Aspects.

The numbers are in – earnings for the quarter have been reported by all the trucking and other freight-related companies for the three months that ended March 31. And what a quarter it was, finishing up in the middle of a radically changed scenario that nobody could have ever modeled for.  On this week’s Drilling […]

With a June 2 merger vote that would make fuel cell electric truck maker Nikola a public entity, the company’s book value has quadrupled to $12 billion in the last week.

Action is five years after a refining unit exploded, sending gasoline prices higher.

Interest is rising in Workhorse’s electric truck-based drone delivery system as the company seeks $40 million credit line to scale production.

Long-dormant power was seen as a tool to boost prices

The agencies’ report, which uses findings from Sandia National Laboratories, says a crude oil’s vapor pressure shouldn’t factor into deciding whether certain types of crude oil can be transported via rail.

Refiners made lots of it and now U.S. inventories are historically high

Darren Prokop explores the reasons for the huge drop in oil prices and what the ramifications are because of the drop.

Comparisons to other recent declines show a much slower slide at the pump.

Charging-as-a-service startup AMPLY Power raised $13.2 million from institutional investors Soros Fund Management and Siemens USA as it expands electric infrastructure management to commercial trucking from transit buses

Our host John Kingston also discusses the diesel market.

For ULSD, it’s the biggest “peacetime” decline ever.

By the end, owners of crude had to pay buyers to take it off their hands.

The deal runs through 2022 so plenty of time to judge its impact.

Reduction would be record-breaking but isn’t likely to be adequate to stabilize markets.

Host John Kingston also looks at the signs of a big drop in diesel demand.

The three countries to keep an eye on: U.S., Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Jim Blaze looks at the declining need for railroad tank cars. Why is this happening and what’s next?

On this week’s Drilling Deep podcast, host John Kingston welcomes Mike Baudensitel of FreightWaves to discuss whether the nation’s rail and intermodal sectors are getting any sort of lift from the trends that have helped the trucking markets since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.  John also discusses the desperate attempts to bring the collapsing […]

Plan was to buy crude oil for Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Toyota and Hino, its heavy truck subsidiary, are offering few details on an Asian heavy-duty truck fuel cell program that complements Toyota’s Oceans 10 project with Kenworth Truck Co. in the U.S.

For fleets that run throughout the day and need high utilization, hydrogen fuel cells offer great value for investment, while also creating zero emissions.

FreightWaves has found a correlation between freight rates and diesel prices that aren’t necessarily beneficial to drivers.

Saudi Arabia’s actions have sent markets plunging on top of earlier declines.

OPEC recommended steep cuts and a Russian-led group balked.

Slashed oil production is bad for tankers, but fallout for container ships hinges on price action.

By providing leases that include hydrogen and maintenance for its fuel cell electric trucks for seven years, Nikola projects it will generate $3 billion in revenue by 2024.

After shunning public ownership, fuel cell truck startup Nikola watched as the WeWork debacle made private fundraising harder. Its merger with VectoIQ brings in about $700 million to help pay to build Nikola’s Class 8 truck plant and the beginning of a hydrogen fuel station network.

Details are skimpy at this point, but a lot more refiners are going to need to account for ethanol somehow in their operations.

The estimated range of increased prices is wide, but at $80-$100 per barrel, it’s a lot higher than current levels.

Diesel-electric hybrids get less attention than pure electric Class 8 trucks, but niche leader Hyliion Inc. is selling them to Penske Truck Leasing with partner Dana Inc.’s Spicer Electrified components.

Over two decades and 2 million miles of trucking, Karl Williams has driven practically every brand of Class 8 tractor. Now behind the wheel of an electric Freightliner eCascadia, he relishes keeping his place in stop-and-go traffic and the sound of near silence.

Ending the coronavirus worries won’t be enough for out-of-balance markets, according to Energy Aspects.

With predictable short-haul drayage round trips from inland California to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, battery-powered trucks could account for up to half of NFI Industries’ 4,000-truck fleet by mid-decade.

Key forecast sees the coronavirus as having a big impact on demand in the first quarter.

As Daimler and Volvo leverage their global capabilities for battery-powered trucks in California, PACCAR picks Dana and Meritor as systems suppliers for its medium- and heavy-duty electric trucks.

Host John Kingston talks about predictive wholesale diesel prices with Scott Susich of DTN.

By the time it begins limited production of zero-emission Class 8 electric trucks late this year, Volvo will know the pain points because of its ecosystem approach to battery-powered transportation.

John Kingston, FreightWaves Energy Market Expert, has been named the winner of the prestigious 2020 Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah International Energy Award for Lifetime Achievement for the Advancement of International Energy Journalism.

Economist Noel Perry joins the podcast as a guest this week.

World’s second largest oil consumer taking extended holiday to deal with virus, keeping businesses shuttered.

The message is now pretty clear: that the rule hasn’t hit markets yet doesn’t mean much.

It was conventional wisdom, accepted by all – the price of diesel was going to rise, and IMO 2020 was the cause. One example of many, a report by the Fitch ratings agency, was published in August 2019. “Fuel switching due to IMO 2020 will drive a large and sudden shift in demand for diesel […]

As more of its drivetrain business moves to electrification, Meritor focuses on integrating recent acquisitions TransPower and AxleTech.

Head of giant independent refiner not surprised by lack of movement this early in the regulation.

It’s the same story for carriers and shippers: up like a rocket and down like a feather

Singapore surge is “trigger” for Maersk to add fuel new surcharge.

The fourth quarter featured the largest bankruptcy in the five years Haynes & Boone have been keeping track.

Electric trucks in big numbers are still years away, but interest among truck makers and fleets is widespread and growing.

Jet fuel demand could be impacted by a drop in air travel, which would work to push down diesel prices.

Companies cite permitting issues, but the market for the product remains hot on environmental regulations.

The cost of hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric trucking could drop 50% by the end of the decade, making it competitive with other clean energy options and even conventional fuels like diesel.

Railroad expert Jim Blaze writes about coal, a key commodity hauled by rail. The amount of coal being hauled by rail is declining. Why? And what does the future hold?

We gear up into this frigid week with a wild ride of headlines and industry updates. First, some bad news: a fatal shooting at a family-owned trucking company in San Antonio leaves two dead. A new cap-and-trade carbon emissions bill unveiled in Oregon last week continues to draw criticism from the trucking industry that helped […]

Fuel is the second-largest expense for trucking fleets, after labor. Every penny a fleet saves on fuel goes directly to the bottom line. Predicting where wholesale rack diesel prices will go has always been tricky. SONAR, FreightWaves’ forecasting platform introduces next day wholesale rack ULSD predictive prices.

The latest features in SONAR 5.0 make it the most future-focused version to date.

Deal to buy Utah-based company will expand Parkland Fuel’s presence in the Western United States with 84 locations and 63 trucks.

After making four investments totaling $12 million in electric truck systems supplier TransPower, Meritor is acquiring the rest of the company.

Honda and Isuzu said Wednesday they will work together to apply Honda R&D expertise in fuel cells to Isuzu trucks in Japan.

What does it mean to be “energy independent?” The President of the United States thinks the country is there now. On this week’s Drilling Deep podcast, host John Kingston talks about how the U.S. can never truly be independent under most definitions. But that doesn’t mean that things aren’t a lot better than they used […]

There’s one pairing of numbers that indicate the U.S. is energy independent. But beneath those numbers, it gets a lot less clear.

Also called “white petroleum,” lithium has become a critical element in the global tech and electric vehicle industries.

The New York City Department of Sanitation will begin testing the first Mack LR Electric refuse truck, hoping to gain valuable insight into the viability of electric refuse vehicles.

Add Werner Enterprises to the parade of companies testing battery-powered heavy-duty trucks in California.

There are plenty of individual interests likely to want enforcement of IMO 2020. But is the market incentivizing noncompliance?

Diesel prices, like all commodities, are priced based in real-time based on the balance of supply and demand. Before we dive into how diesel prices are generated, we should discuss the two most important factors in what prices consumers will see at the pump: retail and wholesale.

Kenworth and Peterbilt will both put power electronics from Dana in their electric medium-duty trucks.

The study looked at 85 different technologies that can help drive fuel efficiency.

Toyota said at #CES2020 that it plans to build a 175-acre city of the future at the foot of Mt. Fuji in Japan that will operate on hydrogen fuel cells and solar power.

Good day, Hydrogen fuel cell trucks are making inroads at California ports and now the state is planning the nation’s first zero-emission “hydrail” project, Forbes magazine reports. The nine-mile line will run in southern California, where the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority plans to operate a FLIRT H2 train from Swiss supplier Stadler starting in […]

Brent and WTI refer to indexes that measure the price of oil

Benchmark crude oil prices were up roughly 4% overnight and into Friday on international markets in reaction to the U.S. airstrike that killed Qasem Soleimani, the leader of the Iranian Kuds force. At approximately 7:45 a.m., Brent crude on the CME was up 3.88% to $68.82, a gain of $2.57/barrel. WTI, the U.S. benchmark, rose […]

Most big rigs in the U.S. have tanks that range in capacity from 120 gallons per tank up to 150 gallons and depending on the radius of operation, may have one tank for shorter hauls or two tanks for longer ones.

Ryder is partnering with In-Charge Energy and ABB to make transition to electric vehicles easier.

There were plenty of things that could have sent the market spinning higher, but the range for retail diesel prices was relatively narrow.

IMO2020 is an environmental rule effective January 1, 2020 that regulates how much sulfur a ship can give out in its exhaust.

The squeeze on capex is likely to be a determining factor on the oil patch activity levels next year.

Ben Thrower writes about recent changes in Mexico’s oil policies and how they may harm the country.

This analysis was distributed earlier this week as a Deep Dive offering to subscribers of FreightWaves’ SONAR market dashboard. The author is SONAR’s market expert on oil. If you think the price of gold says nothing about the inherent value of commodities — or the value of anything — then you can stop reading right […]

Drilling Deep podcast host John Kingston joins with his colleague FreightWaves Finance Editor Todd Maiden to discuss how the trucking industry did on Wall Street during this past year. What does its performance mean for the future? And your host will be wrapping up the “right back where we started” year in diesel pricing.

Ores and wastes are arguably the two most important materials transported in the nuclear cycle. FreightWaves asks how they are shipped. The answer is: carefully.

The price of hydrogen has a long way to fall to be competitive with diesel. Knowing where the price stands is a first step.

A recent big corporate writedown in the oil and gas sector was a big deal. But in this week’s Drilling Deep podcast, host John Kingston discusses that maybe it isn’t quite as big a deal as some people were making it out to be. And then we’ll shift gears and talk about one aspect of […]