A Penny Stock.

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1. Global oil demand has surged to a record amid robust consumption in China and elsewhere, threatening to push prices higher, the International Energy Agency said. World fuel use averaged 103 million barrels a day for the first time in June and may soar even higher in August, the agency said in a report. As Saudi Arabia and its partners constrict supplies, oil markets are tightening significantly. “Oil demand is scaling record highs, boosted by strong summer air travel, increased oil use in power generation and surging Chinese petrochemical activity,” the Paris-based IEA said. “Crude and products inventories have drawn sharply” and “balances are set to tighten further into the autumn.” (Source: bloomberg.com, italics mine)

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2. Beijing is making one of its biggest top-down efforts in years to tackle the debts racked up by local governments in a sign of authorities’ mounting concern over the risk to financial stability as the economy falters. China’s state council, the country’s cabinet, is sending teams of officials to more than 10 of the country’s financially weakest provinces to scrutinize their books — including the liabilities of opaque off-balance sheet entities — and find ways to cut their debts. Working groups from the central bank, finance ministry and securities watchdog are involved in the debt resolution effort in those provinces and will report to Premier Li Qiang, two people familiar with the initiative said. The enormous debts accumulated by China’s provinces have become an urgent problem for policymakers as they try to end the country’s long reliance on a debt-fueled infrastructure binge to drive economic growth. One Goldman Sachs estimate puts the total local government debt pile at Rmb94 trillion ($13 trillion), including liabilities of the off-balance sheet entities known as local government financing vehicles. (Source: ft.com)