Well, now we all know how it feels when the bottom falls out. In fact, it seems there is no bottom, with WTI crude at Cushing settling on Wednesday at $20.37/bbl, down $6.58/bbl. There is no point in belaboring the sad story here. You can read about pandemics, OPEC price wars and collapsed markets in every periodical on the planet. Likewise, there is no point in trying to predict what will happen next. Any pundit who tries to predict future prices in this environment is picking numbers out of the air at best. But at RBN, we are energy market analysts. As such, we are compelled to analyze something. And in these market conditions, there is one thing we can hang our hat on: No matter how bad things get, hope springs eternal. Thus, the market consensus is that things will be better a year from now, and even better a year after that. The implication? In a flash, crude is in steep contango, and that has repercussions for pipeline flows, regional price differentials and for storage — in production areas, at refineries, in VLCCs on the water, and especially at Cushing, OK, the king of oil storage hubs. Today, we examine one aspect of the chaos that now envelopes all aspects of energy markets.
Seventeen days ago — eons in COVID-19 time — we noted in Free Fallin’ that CME/NYMEX WTI Cushing crude oil for April 2020 delivery had closed at $44.76/bbl, a decline of more than $16/bbl, or about 27%, since New Year’s Day. Well, prices have done a lot more free-falling since then. Figure 1 puts the earlier decline and more recent nosedive in historical context, showing daily WTI front-month futures prices since 1998.
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About the song
“Save It For Later” was originally written by Dave Wakeling as a teenager before he formed his group, which was called The English Beat in the U.S. and The Beat in the UK. The song appears as the first song on side two of The English Beat’s third studio album, Special Beat Service. It was released as a single in April 1982 and went to #58 on the Billboard Dance/Disco chart. The Who's Pete Townshend claims the song is one of his favorites and has covered it on several occasions. The song has also appeared in a few movies and television shows. Personnel on the record were: Dave Wakeling (vocals, guitar), Ranking Roger (toasting, vocals, percussion), David Steele (bass), Andy Cox (guitar), Everett Morton (drums) and Saxa (saxophone).
Special Beat Service was the third and final studio album of the original version of The English Beat. Produced by Bob Sargeant in England in spring of 1982, the album went to #39 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart.
The English Beat were formed in Birmingham, England, in 1978. The original band recorded three studio albums and released 13 singles. Ranking Roger would later front a version of the English Beat in the UK, while Dave Wakeling would do the same in the U.S., where he now lives in the Los Angeles area. The English Beat featuring Ranking Roger released two studio albums and three live albums, and The English Beat featuring Dave Wakeling released one studio album. Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger left the band in 1983 and formed the group General Public. Beat members Andy Cox and David Steele formed the band Fine Young Cannibals. Ranking Roger died in March 2019 at the age of 56.
