In the April Short-Term Energy Outlook, the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts that the United States will again become a net importer of crude oil and petroleum products in the third quarter of 2020 and remain a net importer in most months through 2021. More net imports of crude oil and less net exports of petroleum products drove this change. EIA expects net crude oil imports to increase because as U.S. crude oil production declines, fewer barrels will be available for export. Net exports of petroleum products will be lowest in the third quarter of 2020, when U.S. refinery runs will decline significantly because of lower demand for refined products. In September 2019, the United States exported more crude oil and petroleum products than it imported for the first month since records began in 1973. EIA previously expected the United States to continue as a net exporter in most months through 2021. However, as a result of recent significant changes in global oil market dynamics, EIA now expects U.S. imports and exports will be even in 2020. It is important to note that the April outlook is subject to heightened levels of uncertainty because the impacts of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease on energy markets are evolving.

The pace and scale of disruption in the power and utilities sector is happening faster than expected.

In the April 2020 update of its Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), released on April 7, and before a recently announced agreement by oil producing countries to limit production, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that U.S. crude oil production will average 11.8 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2020, a 4% decline from the 2019 production levels. Crude oil production will average 11.0 million b/d in 2021, a 6% decline from 2020 (Figure 1). If realized, the STEO 2020 production decline would mark the first annual decrease since 2016. The majority of the forecasted production decline occurs between the first and fourth quarters of 2020, dropping from 12.7 million b/d to 11 million b/d (13%) and remaining around that level through 2021. The forecast did not incorporate the April 12 joint announcement by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and several other non-OPEC countries to reduce crude oil production. These production reductions may significantly affect global balances and could provide upward price pressure that would affect U.S. crude oil drilling and production. ...

On Monday, April 20, 2020, New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil front-month futures prices fell below zero dollars per barrel (b)—at one point, trading at -$40.32/b (Figure 1)—and remained below zero for part of the following trading day. Monday marked the first time the price for the WTI futures contract fell below zero since trading began in 1983. Negative prices in commodity markets are very rare, but when they occur they typically indicate high transactions costs and significant infrastructure constraints. In this case, the WTI front-month futures contract was for May 2020 delivery, and the contract was set to expire on April 21, 2020. Unless they have made other arrangements ahead of time, market participants that hold WTI futures contracts to expiration must take physical delivery of WTI crude oil in Cushing, Oklahoma. Typically, most market participants close any futures contracts ahead of expiration through cash settlement in order to avoid taking physical delivery, and only about 1% of contracts are physically settled. The extreme market events of April 20 and April 21 were driven by several factors, including the inability of contract holders to find other market participants to sell the futures contracts. In addition, in this case, the scarcity of available crude oil storage meant several market participants sold their futures contracts at negative prices, in effect paying a counterparty to close out of the contracts. ...

On April 27, 2020, the U.S. average regular retail gasoline price was $1.77 per gallon (gal), the lowest price since February 2016. On May 4, the U.S. average gasoline price increased slightly to $1.79/gal. The United States declared a national emergency on March 13 in response to concerns regarding spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). From March 16 to May 4, the U.S. average regular retail gasoline price fell by $0.46/gal. The lower gasoline prices reflect low crude oil prices, low gasoline demand, and rising gasoline inventories. ...

Billionaire. Entrepreneur. Investor. Shark. Mark Cuban is one of tech’s best-known entrepreneurs, so we are amped to have him join us for an upcoming Extra Crunch Live, our virtual speaker series that connects the brightest minds in tech directly with our Extra Crunch audience. Starting out as a salesman for one of Dallas’s earliest PC […]

Today at 10am PDT, two-thirds of the Equity crew are sitting down with Hunter Walk, a venture capitalist with Homebrew and well-known seed-stage investor. Continuing TechCrunch’s running series of Extra Crunch Live discussions with prominent people in the tech industry, bringing Walk in for a discussion is fitting. Our recent chat with Sequoia Roelof Botha’s […]

Zoom acquires some encryption expertise, Uber makes a big investment in scooters and we review the new 13-inch Macbook Pro. Here’s your Daily Crunch for May 7, 2020. 1. Zoom acquires Keybase to get end-to-end encryption expertise Keybase, whose encryption products include secure file sharing and collaboration tools, should give Zoom some security credibility as […]

Before raising capital, it's often hard to pay potential employees, but you can still offer exponential future returns.

The actor, 57, was in good company as he joined by stunning Downton Abbey star Michelle Dockery at Monday evening's British Fashion Awards, held at the Royal Albert Hall in south-west London.

JAN MOIR: Like Downton, Belgravia starts with a tragedy - only this one develops into a secret that threatens to engulf two families in scandal and could start or end a dynasty.

Lyon are just about keeping their heads above water in the race to stay in Europe's premier competition next season, and Moussa Dembele is the man responsible.

First he dispatched a rank outsider. Then one of the biggest rebels in tennis. And yesterday Rafael Nadal came up against the eternal entertainer that is Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and again prevailed.

Michael Van Gerwen secured a rapid victory over Ricky Evans to progress into the last 16 of the PDC World Championship.

Parents of young sports men and women have been warned about predatory coaches who may use their position to take advantage of children and how to spot the warning signs.

After beginning the week under the weather, Djokovic has looked stronger with each match and he was just too good for 20-year-old Shapovalov, appearing in his first Masters final.

Djokovic, who has yet to drop a set at the tournament, beat Chile's Cristian Garin 6-3, 6-3 in Brisbane, while team-mate Dusan Lajovic won 6-2, 7-6, with Serbia set to travel to Sydney for the quarters.

England manager Gareth Southgate plans to make some changes for Sunday's Nations League third-place play-off against Switzerland, with defender John Stones' role under scrutiny.

Matchday four in La Liga saw Sevilla take Atletico Madrid's place at the top of La Liga, the former earning a hard-fought 1-0 win at Alaves while the latter succumbed to a 2-0 defeat at Real Sociedad. 

Jackie Cruz proved she was every inch as cheeky as her Orange Is the New Black character as she slipped into a saucy swimsuit for some fun in the sun in Miami on Sunday.

Orange Is the New Black's Jackie Cruz, 32, has said that she always knew Ruby Rose would be a Hollywood heavyweight.

The actress, 32, was spotted soaking up the sun in a tiny white bikini during a beach day in Miami on Sunday. Indeed, the actress looked well-rested and relaxed while floating in the ocean blue.

She plays Marisol 'Flaca' Gonzales on the Netflix original series Orange Is The New Black.

Listeners called the Anaconda rapper out as disrespectful after using the lyrics: 'All you b*****s Rosa Parks, uh oh, get your a** up' in the forthcoming track, tentatively titled Yikes.

In a bid to clear his paedophile father Tom's name, Leo demands that Whitney, who was trying to make things right with her ex-boyfriend, says she lied about the sexual abuse she suffered from Tony.

The former Baywatch babe has sparked speculation she is dating the US swimmer after they were seen embracing during a night out at Bootsy Bellows in Hollywood on Tuesday night, after meeting earlier in the day while he was filming his reality show What Would Ryan Lochte Do?.

Fresh off a double-gold night, Phelps came first in Wednesday night's semi final recording a time of 1 minute 58.78 seconds with Lochte close behind.

The treatment of the Fred Olsen employees is being managed on board the 28,600-tonne vessel Black Watch in the Firth of Forth and there are no plans for anyone to disembark.

Goldenballs was dripping in golden goo after he was slimed at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Sports Awards in Los Angeles on Thursday

The children's sports-star father and fashionista mother stayed at home as Brooklyn acted as babysitter, and they were content to let the boys take all the attention for one night.

Brooklyn looked every inch the cute and doting older brother, as he was pictured wrapping his arms around his younger siblings as they posed on the carpet.

American Danielle Kang has stirred the pot nicely with some provocative remarks about wanting to 'crush' the Europeans and make the home supporters cry at Gleneagles.

DEREK LAWRENSON AT GLENAGLES: They used to say that the Solheim Cup was like the 'Ryder Cup with lipstick.' These days, 'with stilettos' might be a better fit.

Les Bleus boss Fabien Galthie responded by saying: 'It's a lack of respect towards our scrum, towards our team, towards French rugby, towards our nation.'

Manu Tuilagi and Ben Youngs are set to return to England's starting XV for Sunday's pivotal Six Nations showdown with Ireland at Twickenham. Jonathan Joseph and Willi Heinz will make way.

Matt Dawson believes that England need to find their own answer to France's scrum-half Antoine Dupont as they begin building towards the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France

The former Celtic and Aston Villa striker had been talking to Southend United about becoming part of their management team with Henrik Larsson and Johan Mjallby until Johnson pulled out.

Tommy Johnson has joined Blackpool's recruitment staff in a move which led to the collapse last week of Southend's bid to appoint Henrik Larsson as manager at Roots Hall.

Karrueche and Victor have been linked since December 2017. The couple recently returned from a getaway to the Bahamas.

RUGBY WORLD CUP DIARY: The World Cup has gone interstellar, with the help of Sergio Parisse. The legendary Italian No 8 has exchanged messages with astronaut Luca Parmitano.

October 13, 1976. Best's career was on the wane. He had turned 30 that summer and come back from his first stint in the US with Los Angeles Aztecs.

She's the Melbourne weather presenter so popular with male viewers that one devoted fan even had her face tattooed on his chest. 

They were catapulted to fame almost 20 years ago when, as young children, they were cast as Hermione Granger and villain Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films.

The actress, 29, and her one-time crush, 31 - who portrayed Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy in the wizard franchise - posted a snap on Monday, which sent die-hard fans into overdrive.

ALEXANDRA SHULMAN: Of course Emma Watson's 'self-partnering' is open to mockery and caricature but, I say go for it.

'For 80 years African-Americans have had nothing to do with Republicans,' Paul said. 'Why? Because of a perception ... that no one in the Republican Party cares.'

Earl Holt III, the president of the Council of Conservative Citizens whose website Charleston massacre shooter Dylann Roof cited in his 'manifesto', has donated $65,000 to Republicans.

Ted Cruz is a maniac no more. Donald Trump, who hit the Texas senator just two days ago, saying he wasn't 'qualified' to be president, slammed the breaks on any more attacks.

Carly Fiorina said she is 'horrified' at the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency – so this morning she endorsed Ted Cruz. 'It's time to unite behind Ted Cruz,' she said at a Miami rally.

As the second season limps towards the finish line, the Channel Nine reality show was crushed by Masterchef and House Rules on Tuesday night as ratings continue to plummet