The International Energy Agency (IEA), an energy advisor to rich nations such as the U.S., released its highly-anticipated World Energy Outlook on Tuesday, singling out potential climate change initiatives as a major driver of oil consumption and prices in coming decades. If a major agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions is signed and implemented in coming years, global crude oil demand could increase by only four million barrels per day by 2030. The increase from current consumption levels of about 85 million barrels to 89 million barrels represents a relatively small bump that could help keep prices lower. “A climate-change agreement would help propel industries and consumers toward using energy more efficiently and incentivize the auto industry to develop electric vehicles and other nonoil technologies,” writes Spencer Swartz for the Wall Street Journal. [click to continue…]
Direct investment in crude oil products used to be limited to major financial institutions and oil companies themselves, but the development of the ETF industry in the U.S. has democratized the investment process in many ways, including making investments in various oil products accessible to average investors. There are a number of exchange-traded products that offer exposure to prices of various types of oil utilizing an array of investment strategies. And while gaining access to the prices of “black gold” is currently a relatively simple process, an increasingly cloudy regulatory environment threatens to make commodity investing via ETFs a thing of the past. Whether you’re looking to bet on short-term movements in oil prices or hedge against skyrocketing prices, ETFs offer an efficient, cheap, and easy way to gain exposure to commodity prices. But there’s a lot of information to digest for any investor looking to do so. Here’s a guide to some of the major issues to consider. [click to continue…]
