Business

Authored by Irina Slav via OilPrice.com,

The richest man in Africa says crude oil prices would do Nigeria a favor if they stay lower for longer.

Last week at the UN General Assembly, Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, whose main business is in cement but also holds interests in agricultural commodities and petrochemicals, said that agriculture - not crude oil - is the way forward for Nigeria, and that Africa “will become the food basket of the world.”

Despite a series of credit-rating cuts by all three of the major ratings agencies earlier this year, Connecticut still boasts a higher rating than Illinois and New Jersey. But that could soon change.

Lawmakers are squabbling over how to close a massive deficit expected to stretch to $3.5 billion over the next two years, which has left Connecticut as the only state in the US without a budget for the current fiscal year. And if lawmakers fail to pass a budget by the end of the month, it could trigger further cutbacks and in essential services.  

California, the state which single-handedly turned Elon Musk into the billionaire that he is today by forcing taxpayers to subsidize his unprofitable electric vehicle scam via "Zero Emission Vehicle" credits, is now considering a full ban of combustion-engine cars by as early as 2030. The potential ban was discussed by Mary Nichols of the California Air Resources Board, the same folks who decided to regulate cow farts last year, who told Bloomberg that Governor Jerry Brown has expressed interest in a ban.

WTI is hovering around $52 as all eyes are watching API's data to gain inisght into how fast refiners are coming back on line. The previous week saw the trend of crude builds and product draws continue but last week crude actually drew down (against expectations of a build), gasoline built (against expectations of a draw and Cushing stocks rose most in 6 months.

API

CNBC's cheerleading staff had a very difficult time finding the silver lining in retail investing this morning as they relentlessly pressed Sam Zell on the value of commercial real estate.  Asked to offer up his thoughts on where retail real estate is headed over the next five years, Zell highlighted the significant excess inventory in the U.S., 4-5x more per capita than Europe, and said investing in the space right now is like catching a "falling knife."