Those colors look great on you! As the nights get longer and the temperatures begin to sway, the changing leaves from oaks, maples, poplars, beech, and other deciduous trees again deliver their short-lived, visually spectacular autumnal phenomenon. As you know, this seasonal shift quickly has different implications, involving rakes, blowers, mulching, and so on.
Why so crude? Crude oil prices fell last week and continued to slide on Monday, trading around $53 a barrel. Investors reacted to reports that Russia had missed its target for oil output cuts after agreeing to reduce supply by 1.2 million barrels per day beginning in 2019. OPEC members Kuwait and Saudi Arabia also indicated that they were making progress in talks to resume oil production from joint fields between the two countries after a three-year break. In addition, concerns about China’s weak GDP growth influenced the market and kept prices in check as worries remained about low global energy demand. The Baker Hughes oil rig count rose last week, going from 712 to 713 and indicating increased domestic production.
Waiting On Winter! On Thursday, October 17, the Energy Information Administration reported the highest injection into inventories of the year in the natural gas market. Meanwhile, the price of natural gas fell to a low at under the $2.20 per MMBtu level on Friday, October 11, but recovered. Despite the significant injection last week, the price was back above the $2.30 per MMBtu level on Friday, October 18. We are coming into the time of the year when uncertainty peaks in the natural gas futures market. – Seeking Alpha
Building Power! Energy used in the buildings sector—which includes residential and commercial structures—accounted for 20% of global delivered energy consumption in 2018. In its International Energy Outlook 2019 (IEO2019) Reference case, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects that global energy consumption in buildings will grow by 1.3% per year on average from 2018 to 2050. – U.S. Energy Information Administration
Use Instagram for long enough and you’ll probably rack up a few contacts that you don’t really care about — someone you followed on impulse and quickly forgot, perhaps. You might have a way to prune those unnecessary connections before long. App sleuther Jane Manchun Wong has discovered that Instagram is testing a way to group followers into categories, making them “easier to manage.” You could look at the “least interacted with” crowd to unfollow a bunch of them en masse, or browse just those accounts posting artwork. – Engadget