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Hurricane season now expected to be less active than "normal"https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/09/us/noaa-hurricane-season-forecast-wxc/index.htmlWhat does this mean for oil and gas prices?Last year the hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico impacted ports, producers in Texas and in the Gulf, refineries in the Gulf - the lack of hurricanes can impact predictions in terms of price, stores, bottlenecks, etc.China and Iranhttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-oil/china-defies-u-s-pressure-as-eu-parts-ways-with-iranian-oil-idUSKCN1L51GBhttps://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/20/china-shifts-to-iranian-tankers-to-keep-oil-flowing-amid-us-sanctions-report.htmlEuropean Union can't keep its companies doing business with Iran, though China is working to keep Iranian oil flowing to its refineries.Crude type matters when it comes to the value of Iranian oil in sanction.Tankers going to China with Iranian crude are now Iranian tankers, insured by IranVenezuela a "Petro" cryptocurrencyhttps://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/20/venezuela-is-pegging-its-economic-recovery-to-a-cryptocurrency--thats-widely-considered-a-scam.htmlMaduro's idea is to tie the "petro" to a barrel of oil - eventually wants to peg wages, prices, pensions, to petro that would equal $60 or 3,600 sovereign bolivarsPdVSA a ConocoPhillips settlementhttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-conocophillips-pdvsa/conocophillips-settles-with-venezuelas-pdvsa-to-recover-2-billion-idUSKCN1L517XDoes ConocoPhillips expect to actually get the $2 billion? PdVSA says they will pay $500 million within 90 days of signing and the rest over 4.5 years.Perhaps Conoco hopes to collect years later or will take Caribbean assets.Oil price predictions:http://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/crude-oil-could-hit-us100-barrel-yearend-—-ihs-markitIHS says oil may hit $100 by beginning of 2019 but will then drop back to $60 by end of 2019If oil goes up as quickly as predicted, may come back down just has fast.Less cushion in the oil market now means greater obsession with certain geopolitical events.