Tag Archives: stockpiles

Global spending on Nuclear Arms on rise after 30 years of decline

Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

Important Takeaways:

  • Nuclear arms spending, arsenals swell as global tensions grow: studies
  • The world’s nuclear powers, and China in particular, increased investment in their arsenals for a third consecutive year in 2022 amid swelling geopolitical tensions, two reports showed Monday.
  • The world’s nine nuclear-armed states jointly spent $82.9 billion on their arsenals last year, with the United States accounting for more than half of that, according to a new report from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).
  • Pointing to the stockpile of usable nuclear warheads, Smith said that “those numbers are beginning to tick up”, while adding that they remain far below the more than 70,000 seen during the 1980s.
  • The bulk of the increase was in China, which increased its stockpile from 350 to 410 warheads
  • India, Pakistan and North Korea also upped their stockpiles and Russia’s grew to a smaller extent, from 4,477 to 4,489, while the remaining nuclear powers maintained the size of their arsenals.
  • Washington spent $43.7 billion, which was slightly less than a year earlier but was still far ahead of all other countries, the report showed.
  • China was next in line with $11.7 billion spent, followed by Russia at $9.6 billion — both marking an increase of around six percent from 2021.
  • Britain raised its spending level by 11 percent to $6.8 billion.

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U.S. crude oil output hits 11 million barrels per day for first time ever

FILE PHOTO: A pump jack is seen at sunset near Midland, Texas, U.S., on May 3, 2017. Picture taken May 3, 2017. REUTERS/Ernest Scheyder/File Photo

By David Gaffen

(Reuters) – U.S. crude oil production last week hit 11 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first time in the nation’s history, the Energy Department said on Wednesday, as the ongoing boom in shale production continues to drive output.

The gains represent a rapid increase in output, as the data if confirmed by monthly figures, puts the United States just behind Russia as the world’s largest producer of crude oil. The nation has added nearly 1 million bpd in production since November, thanks to rapid increases in shale drilling.

“I don’t think production is plateauing at 11. It’s fully expected to grow beyond 11 – we won’t be topping out there,” said Scott Shelton, a broker at ICAP in Durham, North Carolina.

Crude inventories increased 5.8 million barrels in the week to July 13, compared with analysts’ expectations for a decrease of 3.6 million barrels.

Crude futures edged down on the data. U.S. crude was down 55 cents to $67.51 a barrel, while Brent dropped 39 cents to $71.77 a barrel. The benchmarks have gained steadily since bottoming out below $30 a barrel in early 2016; U.S. crude is up nearly 12 percent this year.

Weekly production figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration are notorious for revisions, however, as monthly data, released on a lag, shows U.S. production at 10.5 million bpd as of April.

In the last several weeks, the EIA has rounded off U.S. production to the nearest hundred thousand barrels, so that figure had been stuck at 10.9 million bpd for more than a month.

Russia’s oil production rose to 11.2 million bpd as of early July, sources familiar told Reuters.

Even as the United States has swiftly ramped up output in the last two years, the country still depends heavily on imports, as it remains the world’s largest oil consumer, with consumption of nearly 20 million bpd.

Net U.S. crude imports rose last week by 2.2 million bpd to about 9 million bpd.

Gasoline stocks fell by 3.2 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a drop of 44,000 barrels.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 371,000 barrels, versus expectations for an 873,000-barrel increase, the EIA data showed.

(Reporting By David Gaffen; additional reporting by Ayenat Mersie; Editing by Marguerita Choy)