Crude prices skid toward 11-year low

Brent crude slid back toward 11-year lows on Wednesday as US stockpiles swelled and Saudi Arabia reiterated a commitment to keep pumping oil.

US crude futures slumped more than 3 percent as US Energy Information Administration data showed stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma hub hitting record levels.
At 1550 GMT, Brent traded $1.10 lower at $36.69 per barrel, less than $1 away from 11-year lows reached last week. Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were trading at $36.67 per barrel, down $1.20, or just over 3 percent, from their settlement in the previous session.
"In all the years I have been doing this, I have never seen builds in the last week of December," said Tariq Zahir, trader at Tyche Capital Advisors in New York.
"At least for tax consequence reasons, refiners always ramp up runs at the year-end, and there's a draw. This is a first for me."
A Reuters poll estimated that data would show a 2.5-million-barrel draw in the week ended Dec. 25, but US crude stocks rose by 2.6 million barrels.
Gasoline and heating oil also posted larger-than-expected stock builds.
Crude prices have plunged by two-thirds since mid-2014 as soaring output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and the United States created a global surplus of between half a million and 2 million barrels per day.
Slowing demand growth, particularly in Asia, has also weighed on prices. China's energy consumption growth in 2015 was its lowest since 1998, according to official news agency Xinhua.
On Wednesday, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde warned that global economic growth would be "disappointing" in 2016, with the prospect of rising US interest rates and a slowdown in China contributing to a higher risk of vulnerability.

Reuters

US Secret Service Security Lapses Highlighted: Remedial Action Urged

Low morale, inappropriate conduct and security lapses are all present day US Secret Service themes, says a new report which urges for the "mismanaged" agency to be fixed

A landmark new US Secret Service report refers to the agency as one “in crisis”, highlighting some 140 breaches of (or attempts to penetrate) its security framework carried out over the past decade.

Included in these are half-a-dozen or more incidents not previously released into the public domain. One occurred just last year, when a man approached and directly spoke to Barack Obama, the US President. This and the other 142 episodes are covered in the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform report, issued on 3 December.

In general terms, the Secret Service is accused of over-focusing on credit card fraud and suchlike, and not investing enough into its protective duties role. Committee chairman, Jason Chaffetz, now hopes the US Government might take in the report’s contents and act accordingly.

Secret Service: Roles

Established in 1865, the US Secret Service was first tasked with counterfeit money investigations. Thereafter, its role was much expanded as it became a pioneering intelligence/counter-intelligence organisation.

In September last year, there were 6,367 people working for it on a full-time basis. 12 months on, that figure had declined to 6,315 – a ten-year low. The committee puts forward several reasons for this drop. Low morale is one such, alongside “systematic mismanagement” and less-than-successful hiring tactics.

Security Lapses: Agency “In Crisis”

Other US Secret Service security lapses featured include one where a group of adults was able to get onto Vice President Joe Biden’s land. Not until authorities were informed by other residents did the Secret Service have any knowledge of this.

On another occasion, an individual from Czechoslovakia accessed an unnamed ex-US President’s home. He remained there for approximately 60 minutes before any action was taken. Then, there was the Secret Service agent who obtained personal data without consent, thereafter crossing the US to approach the woman concerned, with romantic thoughts in mind.

“This report reveals that the Secret Service is in crisis”, the Associated Press quotes Chaffetz as having said. "Morale is down, attrition is up, misconduct continues and security breaches persist. Strong leadership from the top is required to fix the systemic mismanagement within the agency and to restore it to its former prestige.”

US Secret Service image copyright The White House – courtesy Wikimedia Commons