US oil stocks plummet, country becomes net crude exporter on weekly basis for first time, EIA says
DENVER, April 29 (Reuters) – The United States became a net exporter of crude for the first time since World War Two as the country shipped a record volume of oil to refiners scrambling for supplies after the Iran war, leading to large drops in domestic inventories, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Europe and Asia have increasingly become dependent on crude from the Americas after the U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran triggered the largest-ever disruption to the global energy market and halted shipping via the Strait of Hormuz, which handles a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies.
Total U.S. crude exports climbed to a record 6.44 million barrels per day, marking a 1.64 million bpd rise from the week prior.
Oil futures extended gains following the report. Global Brent crude futures were up $8.11 at $119.37 a barrel at 12:35 p.m. ET (1635 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were up $7.06 a barrel at $106.91.
Net imports of crude oil, or the difference between imports and exports, fell by 1.97 million bpd to minus 688,000 bpd, the first time it turned negative on a weekly basis, meaning outflows surpassed imports. On an annual basis, the U.S. was last a net exporter of crude in 1943, while on a monthly basis, the country was last a net exporter in 1944.
The large exports pushed U.S. crude inventories down by 6.2 million barrels to 459.5 million barrels in the week ended April 24, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 231,000-barrel draw. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub dropped by 796,000 barrels in the week, the EIA said.
‘BARRELS GOING OVERSEAS’
“Refineries didn’t change. Domestic production was unchanged. It was all about the export numbers. Those barrels are going overseas rather than into storage,” said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho.
Total exports of crude oil and petroleum products also touched a record 14.18 million bpd, up 1.298 million bpd from the week prior.
U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 6.1 million barrels in the week to 222.3 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.1 million-barrel draw. That marked the 11th straight week of draws, raising some concerns about fuel stocks as U.S. driving season looms.
U.S. gasoline futures rose over 5% to $3.74, touching their highest price since 2022.
Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 4.5 million barrels in the week to 103.6 million barrels, versus expectations for a 2.2 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.
“With refinery runs still in check, solid draws were seen to both gasoline and distillate inventories,” said Matt Smith, an analyst with ship tracking firm Kpler.
Refinery crude runs rose by 84,000 barrels per day in the week, the EIA said, while utilization rates increased by 0.5 percentage point in the week to 89.6%.
Product supplied, a proxy for demand, rose by 1.4 million bpd to 21.13 million bpd.
Building permits as well as the trade deficit largely as expected. These numbers won’t change GDP estimates.
Building Permits (Feb)
Act: 1.538M Cons: 1.538M Prev: 1.386M
Building Permits (MoM) (Feb)
Act: 11.0% Cons: 10.9% Prev: -4.7%
Trade Balance (Mar)
Act: -60.30B Cons: -61.00B Prev: -57.80B
Exports (Mar)
Act: 320.90B Prev: 314.70B
Imports (Mar)
Act: 381.20B Prev: 372.10B
Nothing has changed. Trump’s financial charlatan ways were the same during the 80s and ’90s. He was always a pumper and dumper and left his fellow investors and lenders with huge losses. He’s a master at letting his partners hold the bag, while he walks away wealthier.,..
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Trump Family’s Net Worth Surged 191% To $6.7 Billion In ’25 – But Their Investors Saw Huge Losses
Over one year into his second term, President Donald Trump has doubled his net worth and increased his family’s, but his investors have not experienced the same benefits.
According to Forbes, Trump’s net worth surged from $2.3 billion in 2024 to $6.7 billion by the end of 2025.
The majority of what Trump earned in the last year came from cryptocurrency.
Three days before he was inaugurated, Trump announced the launch of his memecoin, Official TRUMP, which is worthless without its speculated price. The value of the coin shot up – and plummeted just as quickly – and it has been down 89% since January 19.
Dogecoin, the world’s largest memecoin, dropped 67% over the same period.
However, every purchase of the TRUMP coin yields a fee that goes directly into Trump’s pockets.
According to an analysis by the Financial Times, the TRUMP coin and the matching meme coin named after Melania Trump have generated $427 million in sales and trading fees for Trump and his business partners. World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s cryptocurrency firm, has netted the family hundreds of millions of dollars in fees.
Despite a record-high year for the stock market, shares for Trump’s media, finance and energy company, Trump Media & Technology Group, plunged 67% between January 19 and December 2025.
According to a calculation by Axios, a hypothetical $1,000 invested in the Nasdaq at the start of last year would now be worth $1,184, while $1,000 invested in Trump Media at the same time would be worth only $331.
Regarding crypto, $1,000 invested in the global cryptocurrency market cap would be worth $842, compared to $114 if the $1,000 were invested in the TRUMP coin at the same time.
Trump’s massive stake in Trump Media has allowed him to gain value, due to the size of his holdings and his potential influence on the stock price.
Additionally, the Trump Organization has arranged branding deals on real estate projects across the globe, with plans in the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Qatar, the Maldives and Saudi Arabia. Though it is unclear how much Trump and his company earn from the licensing agreements, each deal is estimated to be worth millions, based on the prices of Trump’s previous deals that he has shared.
According to Forbes, Eric Trump‘s net worth has skyrocketed over the last year, increasing more than tenfold, while his older brother Donald Trump Jr.‘s net worth has increased sixfold.
A Politico study from last month found that 46% of U.S. adults say the cost of living is “the worst they can ever remember it being,” including 37% of voters who supported Trump in 2024.
Remember that the Judas Goat gets rewarded handsomely while his followers get flushed down the toilet.
two party system? every office holder ends up sucking so the public votes for the other party, then they start to suck. Just like Biden I really don’t believe Trump is the actual President. I’m sure Eric’s stock will get a pump soon.
Trump seems to like to pump the stock market so he and his friends and family can get their money out. Once they accomplish that, then watch out below as the retail stock investors get stuck holding the bag.
Strategy for Long USA and USD via Oil & Gas
https://richardmedhurst.substack.com/p/how-the-us-pulled-off-an-armed-robbery?r=c5e15&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true
Quotes from the research-
A Strategic Shift
The petrodollar is no more. It has been quietly replaced by a far more lethal successor: the Petrogas-Dollar, at the exact moment when everyone thought the US were in decline.
Everything we are seeing today is the result of decades-long planning between Washington and Wall Street.
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The Western Hemisphere: The New Middle East
By making the Western Hemisphere the capital of oil and gas, this fixes many of the problems the Petrodollar had.
In the past, the Petrodollar was too dependent on political events in the Middle East. But with this strategy, the US control the entire process without having to rely on proxies in the Middle East, be that Israel, the Gulf Kingdoms, or actual US army bases.
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LNG-Dollar
The LNG-Dollar or Petrogas-dollar isn’t just stronger because it is safely tucked away in the Gulf of Mexico. As the name indicates, it is the addition of LNG/natural gas that makes it more diverse, and stable.
Through LNG, the US have made Europe’s survival dependent on the Dollar, and the captive market they created after 2022 is precisely what turned Washington into the world’s #1 exporter.
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My observation-
This guy has certainly done his homework. Moreover, his work conflates with this blog’s research and economic findings. This research post is a must read for those who doubt the long term plan.
As long as the Fed is able to provide the necessary funding for the USG, only two outcomes will stop the US and its dollar; a nuclear take out of DC/NY or wormwood.
April 13th 2029, it all makes sense if it’s real.
I need to reorient my mindset as well as the blog for this. I’m going to have to try to have a conversation with my Millie Montag wife about moving to a more mountainous area. We did talk about West Virginia in the past. I guess if I’m stuck here on the Eastern seaboard, that’s as good a place as any. At least, it will be more homogeneous.
I’m going to have to start having more podcasts. I think we need to put our thinking caps on here.
Waiting for Nibiru.
Wormwood. World War III, Ezekiel 38 and 39, needs to happen first.
From Bloomberg
The US-Israel war with Iran and the calamity it’s triggered in global energy markets has been sharply felt by nations from Southeast Asia to Europe. In the US, however, the price for consumers flowing from Donald Trump’s decision to attack has been about $1.40 more for a gallon of gas, on average. This week, the warnings that more acute pain may be coming to American shores have been accumulating. On Friday, one more arrived—from Big Oil.
Every day the Strait of Hormuz remains shut, the world is using up commercial stockpiles, strategic reserves and crude that was stored in vessels, Exxon Mobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips said this week. These supplies are now running short, Chevron Chief Financial Officer Eimear Bonner said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Friday.
“There’s very little of the buffer left,” she said. “If you look at the unprecedented disruption and the world’s supply of oil and natural gas, the market hasn’t seen the full impact of that yet.”
As a landlord and income-generating asset owner, this is the best news I’ve seen all day.
House Democrats Push $25 Federal Minimum Wage
https://slaynews.com/house-democrats-push-25-federal-minimum-wage/
Here’s a house that went under contract in just 2 days for $370,000. I bought a better home in the same subdivision on the next block 3 years ago for $248,000. Go where the money’s going. In 3 years, the rent on that property went up $650. Collapse? Ha!
Actually, depending on one’s perspective there is an ongoing collapse. The person who sold to me to pay off his foolishly accumulated unconsolidated debts and the tenants are witnessing a collapse. The SFR owner is raking in the cash.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/329-Wise-Ave-Strasburg-VA-22657/79275586_zpid/
so would you be a buyer at those prices now or just sit on the sidelines – I feel like as I keep raising more money to try to invest in a property the costs increase quicker then I can keep up with; but even though rates have subsided it’s hard to find a solid cashflowing property if using leverage.
The back of the envelope calculation reveals a 6.5% cap rate on that property listing. That’s within the historic average for that property and the community. Although I consider it full retail, it’s not a ripoff.
If you’re young and have energy, you can buy something similar in that community for about $320,000 and put $10,000 into it the way you want it. That would give you a 7% cap rate. That’s nice in a solid B class neighborhood. I would live in that neighborhood.
I performed a 1031 exchange in September of last year. I sold one of my mongrelized condos and purchased a single-family detached house, a rancher built in late ’70s for 280,000 and in the same town as this listing. It needed a lot of work including a gutting and rehabbing of both bathrooms and other stuff. I have about $40,000 more into it.
When I turned around and rented it out, I thought I overpaid. However, a house just listed down the street that’s slightly smaller in size without a carport, 20 years newer, but with a yard that’s 10,000 square feet smaller. Plus, my house is a one-story and it’s all brick. It’s perfect for older people. It’s just listed for $375,000. It should get something close to that.
I picked the neighborhoods for a reason. They’re rewriting history here in Northern Virginia and they’re tearing down the statues. I’m not being hyperbolic here, but I know that since covid a lot of more conservative money has fled Fairfax County and the cities around here. They went West to the excerbs. That’s why these prices are going up and they continue to escalate. It seems that the more retarded the Fairfax County School district gets, the higher my prices on my houses go.
I don’t buy these properties in a vacuum and I guess all of this stuff is tacit to me.
I understand you do a lot of work yourself and I try to do that too; but how are you dealing with the crazy costs for equipment and labor and such. For example my one property has a very old boiler and I just keep fixing it as needed because the cost to have someone replace it is untenable. Another perspective is for my own personal residence – I have a builder grade heat pump in my house that is 11years old and I was looking to put in a Mitsubishi inverter type which are supposedly the best and first quote he gave was over 16k and second with a “better” variant was over 18k. I just got done installing a mini split in my office over a period of a few days and I figure this is really not that hard of work but sometimes I just don’t have time so here i figured the cost of the premium Mitsubishi equipment is around 6-7k and I figured no more than 5k for a couple hours of labor but no these guys want 10k+ to do a little work – and this is a really simple job of just replacing a like-for-like outside condenser and inside air handling and running a new lineset – stupid simple in my opinion where as the older stuff is even worse with the additional plumbing and the concern of other things in proximity breaking due to age etc not to mention having to deal with issues when you have tenants in the property.
How old is your house? How old is the rental house? Does it have ducted central air?
I just replaced a 2-ton unit for $6,800. He quoted me a 3-ton unit for $8,200. I probably should have gone to two and a half ton, but I have a guy that does stuff pretty reasonably. Whenever I have issues with the AC, I just replace it. It’s all a tax write off. I can’t be bothered with coming over all the time with tenant issues.
My house is 2015 and yes has ducted central air issue was just increased electrical usage and emergency heat during winter months whereas these newer heatpumps can heat at more extreme temperatures. The rental property is older like 1940s/1960s the older boiler is in a garage serving an apartment above. I originally figured it would be best to swap it to electric like baseboards or mini splits but issue is the setup in the garage with all the plumbing was kind of designed for the waste heat generated off of the oil boiler to keep the pipes from freezing in winter; I imagine that I would have to install dedicated heating in that garage if I converted from oil. I guess I have trouble determining best way to redesign certain things or approaches although I’m capable doing basic plumbing/electrical/construction as needed. Definitely feel on my own usually to figure things out as anytime I try to use any vendor or company seems impossible to find anyone decent who won’t try to price goug. Might just be worse here in Pennsylvania than your area in that regard.
Last month’s M2 measure represented a huge jump. To the asset owners I say, the trend is your friend.
When will it end? For now, the world is flooding the United States with dollars, because the United States is such a massive energy powerhouse. The dollar is King.
Nothing is going to stop the American steamroller, except….
Except the end time force Majeur which may or may not happen. Even if it does happen it may be 1000 years later. Meanwhile buy up the income producing assets and make money. I prefer to be comfortable at the end instead of poor. Satan is in control for now and maybe for the rest of our lives.
Legitimate analysis to be sure, but it seems to be running cover for the whole thing. It seems to be more of a red herring, so to speak. Why are all the major powers acting now?
Why global population collapse will keep the wars coming
By IntelliNews editorial desk
Across Europe, Asia and the Americas, declining states are reaching for the gun. The pattern is older than it looks, and the demographers have seen it before.
The polite version of the story is that the world is getting older. The honest version is darker with increased competition from fewer actors. Three-quarters of the planet’s countries will, by 2050, no longer be producing enough children to replace themselves. Britain itself is now set for ‘Reform party-backed’birth collapse, the BBC reported, with deaths now outnumbering births for the foreseeable future. The rest of Europe is no better, and Germany, Italy, and others are ahead of the United Kingdom.
Analysis continues;
http://www.intellinews.com/why-global-population-collapse-will-keep-the-wars-coming-440165/