IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/wpaper/halshs-03843257.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

How to 'Trump' the energy market: evidence from the WTI-Brent spread

Author

Listed:
  • Catalin Dragomirescu-Gaina

    (Unicatt - Università cattolica del Sacro Cuore [Milano])

  • Dionisis Philippas

    (ESSCA Research Lab - ESSCA - Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Commerciales d'Angers)

  • Stéphane Goutte

    (SOURCE - SOUtenabilité et RésilienCE - UVSQ - Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines - IRD [France-Nord] - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement)

Abstract

Donald Trump's use of Twitter was unprecedented. Despite his erratic communication style, some of Trump's strong statements were made in reference to the U.S. oil & gas industry, in line with his domestic policy agenda aimed at supporting re-industrialization and local investment. Did his Twitter messages actually reach domestic oil producers, refiners and transport operators or rather speculators willing to financially gamble on new information sources? To address this question, we model the WTI-Brent spread, which commonly reflects supply bottlenecks in the U.S. crude oil sector, using a nonlinear approach that reveals the perverse influence of some of Trump's tweets particularly on market speculative dynamics. Finally, we outline policy recommendations to counteract the market consequences of speculative behaviour driven by political noise.

Suggested Citation

  • Catalin Dragomirescu-Gaina & Dionisis Philippas & Stéphane Goutte, 2022. "How to 'Trump' the energy market: evidence from the WTI-Brent spread," Working Papers halshs-03843257, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-03843257
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-03843257
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-03843257/document
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kilian, Lutz & Lee, Thomas K., 2014. "Quantifying the speculative component in the real price of oil: The role of global oil inventories," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 71-87.
    2. Bukovina, Jaroslav, 2016. "Social media big data and capital markets—An overview," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(C), pages 18-26.
    3. Bahattin Büyük şahin & Thomas K. Lee & James T. Moser & Michel A. Robe, 2013. "Physical Markets, Paper Markets and the WTI-Brent Spread," The Energy Journal, , vol. 34(3), pages 129-152, July.
    4. Zhang, Yue-Jun & Zhang, Lu, 2015. "Interpreting the crude oil price movements: Evidence from the Markov regime switching model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 96-109.
    5. Bahattin Buyuksahin & Jeffrey H. Harris, 2011. "Do Speculators Drive Crude Oil Futures Prices?," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2), pages 167-202.
    6. Philippas, Dionisis & Dragomirescu-Gaina, Catalin & Goutte, Stéphane & Nguyen, Duc Khuong, 2021. "Investors’ attention and information losses under market stress," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 1112-1127.
    7. Dragomirescu-Gaina, Catalin & Philippas, Dionisis, 2013. "Is the EMU government bond market a playground for asymmetries?," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 21-31.
    8. Bekaert, Geert & Harvey, Campbell R, 1995. "Time-Varying World Market Integration," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(2), pages 403-444, June.
    9. Ekaterina Zhuravskaya & Maria Petrova & Ruben Enikolopov, 2020. "Political Effects of the Internet and Social Media," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 12(1), pages 415-438, August.
    10. Christopher Kaminker & Fiona Stewart, 2012. "The Role of Institutional Investors in Financing Clean Energy," OECD Working Papers on Finance, Insurance and Private Pensions 23, OECD Publishing.
    11. Fattouh, Bassam, 2010. "The dynamics of crude oil price differentials," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 334-342, March.
    12. Kaufmann, Robert K., 2011. "The role of market fundamentals and speculation in recent price changes for crude oil," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 105-115, January.
    13. Daron Acemoglu & Mikhail Golosov & Aleh Tsyvinski & Pierre Yared, 2012. "A Dynamic Theory of Resource Wars," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 127(1), pages 283-331.
    14. Wai‐Man Liu & Emma Schultz & John Swieringa, 2015. "Price Dynamics in Global Crude Oil Markets," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(2), pages 148-162, February.
    15. Kuck, Konstantin & Schweikert, Karsten, 2017. "A Markov regime-switching model of crude oil market integration," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 6(C), pages 16-31.
    16. Brown, George & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2017. "The presidential politics of climate discourse: Energy frames, policy, and political tactics from the 2016 Primaries in the United States," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 127-136.
    17. Diaz-Rainey, Ivan & Gehricke, Sebastian A. & Roberts, Helen & Zhang, Renzhu, 2021. "Trump vs. Paris: The impact of climate policy on U.S. listed oil and gas firm returns and volatility," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    18. Choi, Kyongwook & Hammoudeh, Shawkat, 2010. "Volatility behavior of oil, industrial commodity and stock markets in a regime-switching environment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 4388-4399, August.
    19. Klaus, Jürgen & Koser, Christoph, 2021. "Measuring Trump: The Volfefe Index and its impact on European financial markets," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    20. Afanasyev, Dmitriy O. & Fedorova, Elena & Ledyaeva, Svetlana, 2021. "Strength of words: Donald Trump's tweets, sanctions and Russia's ruble," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 253-277.
    21. Mariana Mazzucato & Gregor Semieniuk, 2017. "Public financing of innovation: new questions," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 33(1), pages 24-48.
    22. Mann, Janelle & Sephton, Peter, 2016. "Global relationships across crude oil benchmarks," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 1-5.
    23. Machus, Tobias & Mestel, Roland & Theissen, Erik, 2022. "Heroes, just for one day: The impact of Donald Trump’s tweets on stock prices," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C).
    24. Stephen Morris & Hyun Song Shin, 2002. "Social Value of Public Information," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(5), pages 1521-1534, December.
    25. Chan, Leo H. & Nguyen, Chi M. & Chan, Kam C., 2015. "A new approach to measure speculation in the oil futures market and some policy implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 133-141.
    26. Lutz Kilian & Daniel P. Murphy, 2014. "The Role Of Inventories And Speculative Trading In The Global Market For Crude Oil," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(3), pages 454-478, April.
    27. Stephan Lewandowsky & Michael Jetter & Ullrich K. H. Ecker, 2020. "Using the president’s tweets to understand political diversion in the age of social media," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, December.
    28. Ruble, Isabella & Powell, John, 2021. "The Brent-WTI spread revisited: A novel approach," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Figuerola-Ferretti, Isabel & McCrorie, J. Roderick & Paraskevopoulos, Ioannis, 2020. "Mild explosivity in recent crude oil prices," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    2. Gao, Xin & Li, Bingxin & Liu, Rui, 2023. "The relative pricing of WTI and Brent crude oil futures: Expectations or risk premia?," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 30(C).
    3. Olivier Rousse & Benoît Sévi, 2017. "Informed Trading in Oil-Futures Market," Working Papers hal-01460186, HAL.
    4. Kuck, Konstantin & Schweikert, Karsten, 2017. "A Markov regime-switching model of crude oil market integration," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 6(C), pages 16-31.
    5. Olivier Rousse & Benoît Sévi, 2016. "Informed Trading in Oil-Futures Market," Working Papers hal-01410093, HAL.
    6. Lang, Korbinian & Auer, Benjamin R., 2020. "The economic and financial properties of crude oil: A review," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    7. Ron Alquist & Gregory Bauer & Antonio Diez de los Rios, 2014. "What Does the Convenience Yield Curve Tell Us about the Crude Oil Market?," Staff Working Papers 14-42, Bank of Canada.
    8. Liu, Li & Wang, Yudong & Wu, Chongfeng & Wu, Wenfeng, 2016. "Disentangling the determinants of real oil prices," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 363-373.
    9. Awan, Obaid A., 2019. "Price discovery or noise: The role of arbitrage and speculation in explaining crude oil price behaviour," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 16(C).
    10. Zhenhua Liu & Zhihua Ding & Tao Lv & Jy S. Wu & Wei Qiang, 2019. "Financial factors affecting oil price change and oil-stock interactions: a review and future perspectives," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 95(1), pages 207-225, January.
    11. Gregory Galay & Henry Thille, 2021. "Pipeline capacity and the dynamics of Alberta crude oil price spreads," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(3), pages 1072-1102, November.
    12. Michel A. Robe & Jonathan Wallen, 2016. "Fundamentals, Derivatives Market Information and Oil Price Volatility," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(4), pages 317-344, April.
    13. Bravo Caro, José Manuel & Golpe, Antonio A. & Iglesias, Jesús & Vides, José Carlos, 2020. "A new way of measuring the WTI – Brent spread. Globalization, shock persistence and common trends," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    14. Kyrtsou, Catherine & Mikropoulou, Christina & Papana, Angeliki, 2016. "Does the S&P500 index lead the crude oil dynamics? A complexity-based approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 239-246.
    15. Mastroeni, Loretta & Mazzoccoli, Alessandro & Quaresima, Greta & Vellucci, Pierluigi, 2021. "Decoupling and recoupling in the crude oil price benchmarks: An investigation of similarity patterns," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    16. Ames, Matthew & Bagnarosa, Guillaume & Matsui, Tomoko & Peters, Gareth W. & Shevchenko, Pavel V., 2020. "Which risk factors drive oil futures price curves?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    17. Miao, Hong & Ramchander, Sanjay & Wang, Tianyang & Yang, Dongxiao, 2017. "Influential factors in crude oil price forecasting," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 77-88.
    18. James D. Hamilton & Jing Cynthia Wu, 2015. "Effects Of Index‐Fund Investing On Commodity Futures Prices," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 56(1), pages 187-205, February.
    19. Ahmadi, Maryam & Bashiri Behmiri, Niaz & Manera, Matteo, 2016. "How is volatility in commodity markets linked to oil price shocks?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 11-23.
    20. Niyati Bhanja & Arif Billah Dar & Aviral Kumar Tiwari, 2018. "Do Global Crude Oil Markets Behave as One Great Pool? A Cyclical Analysis," Journal of Business Cycle Research, Springer;Centre for International Research on Economic Tendency Surveys (CIRET), vol. 14(2), pages 219-241, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    WTI-Brent spread; Twitter; speculation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D80 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - General
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-03843257. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.