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Iraq Mulls Restart of Idled Pipeline. The restart of Kurdish crude exports to the Turkish coast is unlikely to materialize anytime soon, but Baghdad is repairing the 350,000 b/d Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline destroyed by ISIS in 2014, potentially re-routing some of its exports as soon as next month.
Hedge Funds Embrace the Bullish Mood. Portfolio investors purchased the equivalent of 37 million barrels in key oil-related futures and options in the week ending April 2, with net length in Brent now standing at 300 million barrels whilst the outlook on WTI is more cautious, at 208 million barrels of net length.
Nigeria’s Fuel Woes Bubble to the Surface. Nigeria’s national oil company NNPC is reported to owe $3 billion to fuel traders in the African country as the reimposition of fuel subsidies makes retail sales a loss-making business for the NOC, with payments taking more than 130 days to come through.
Shell Mulls Delisting from London Exchange. UK-based energy major Shell (LON:SHEL) is reportedly looking at all options including switching its listing from London to New York, saying that if the European valuation gap doesn’t improve by mid-2025, the company could make a move.
Fierce Pipeline Dispute Moves to FERC. US midstream firm Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to look into the activities of Williams Cos Inc., saying it builds interstate pipelines without approval whilst the latter claims ET is blocking other operators from building new projects by not allowing them to cross existing pipes.
Guinea Is Running Out of Electricity. The African country of Guinea is facing an electricity market collapse as the state-owned utility firm announced it would deepen power cuts as energy sources get depleted, stemming from extremely low hydropower generation as well as breakdowns at thermal plants.
Copper Bulls Are Riding High Again. The three-month LME copper benchmark contract reached $9,450 per metric tonne for the first time since January 2023 as a steady inflow of hedge fund investments keeps the bullish momentum going, buoyed by improving manufacturing data from the EU.
Panama Canal Water Levels to Rise. The Panama Canal Authority indicated that water levels in the Gatun Lake should gradually increase from the end of May as the rainy season takes over in Latin America, with drought-heavy El Nino conditions giving way to La Nina, bringing more rainfall.
Leaking Gulf of Mexico Pipeline to Restart Soon. The Main Pass Oil Gathering (MPOG) pipeline has successfully undergone a line integrity test and will be restarted soon after transportation was halted for more than six months, shutting 61,000 b/d of offshore production, following a November spill.
Floods Prompt Russian Refinery Shutdown. Russian oil company Forteinvest shut its 135,000 b/d Orsk refinery in southern Russia because of unprecedented flooding on the Ural River, halting ongoing maintenance works as its product sto
German industrial production finally broke through the cycle of gloom after it posted a 2.1% increase in February, well above the consensus expectation of a 0.5% rise month-over-month.
- Although Germany’s manufacturing is still below its pre-pandemic levels, the surprise hike in activity fuelled this week’s copper rally and reinforced the expectation of the ECB cutting rates from June onwards.
- In contrast to actual figures, business sentiment in Germany remains sour as the S&P Global PMI index dropped as low as 41.6 in March, from 42.5 in February, suggesting the country’s manufacturers don’t necessarily share the optimism.
- Europe has been the laggard continent in terms of rising commodity demand as oil demand keeps on trending flat, electricity demand has now declined for two consecutive years, and steel production has fallen to its lowest level on record.
Market Movers
- UK-based oil major Shell (LON:SHEL) and Saudi Aramco (TADAWUL:2222) are reportedly vying for the LNG assets of Pavilion Energy, a trading firm set up by Singapore’s Temasek, in a deal that could be worth 2 billion.
- UK oil major BP (NYSE:BP) is reportedly nearing an agreement with Anglo-French upstream firm Perenco to divest its Amherstia, Cashima, and Immortelle gas fields in Trinidad and Tobago.
- French energy major TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) has postponed a final investment decision on its Papua LNG project to 2025, saying more alignment would be required with engineering contractors.
Tuesday, April 09, 2024
Brent crude futures have established a firm footing over the $90 per barrel mark and not even a brief opening for a potential ceasefire in Gaza managed to pull it lower. Mexico cutting oil exports will ensure bullish sentiment continues to build in the coming weeks, with further directionality set by the US and Chinese inflation numbers this week, potentially even paving the way for a climb closer to $95 per barrel.
LNG Prices Keep Calm Despite Strong Asian Buying. Spot LNG prices in Asia have been rangebound in recent weeks around $9 per mmBtu despite higher-than-usual buying from China and Japan as European LNG imports are set to drop to a 7-month low of 8 million tonnes on high gas inventories.
Mexico Keeps on Cutting Oil Exports. Having withdrawn 436,000 b/d of crude oil exports in April, Mexico’s state oil firm Pemex intends to cut its May exports by 330,000 b/d. The country has refrained from declaring force majeure on its supply contracts despite stretched crude production.
Guyana Struggles to Launch Its Gas Bonanza. Whilst Guyana’s oil production has been surging recently, its $1.9 billion gas-to-power project is running at least six months behind schedule, with operator ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) forced to halt 400,000 b/d of production for a month in Q3.
Iraq Mulls Restart of Idled Pipeline. The restart of Kurdish crude exports to the Turkish coast is unlikely to materialize anytime soon, but Baghdad is
Https://research-centre.barclays.co.uk/shares/bp/broker-views/
Lloyds Banking Group plc have declared a new dividend:
Company Lloyds Banking Group plc (LLOY)
Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (United Kingdom)
Amount 1.84p
Dividend Type Final
Ex-Dividend Date Thursday April 11 2024
Pay Date Tuesday May 21 2024
Your Holding 1 share change this
Your Payment: £0.02
Https://www.livecharts.co.uk/MarketCharts/brent.php
Good morning all and meoryou:)
Some Fields Are Too Good to Give Up. The Dutch parliament’s vote on a bill that would permanently ban gas production from the giant Groningen field has been delayed indeterminately, and despite a preliminary shutdown in October 2023 it could still be reactivated in exceptional cases.
US to See Extremely Active Hurricane Season in 2024. The annual hurricane forecast released by CSU sees the Atlantic season well above average hurricane activity, expecting 23 named storms out of which 5 could transform into major hurricanes, higher than the 3.2 per season average.
Petrobras Readying for Corporate Turmoil. Brazilian media are reporting that the top executive of Brazil’s national oil company Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) Jean Paul Prates might be replaced in the coming days amid an ongoing dividend spat between him and the country’s Energy Minister.
US Tightens Screws on Iranian Oil Tankers. The US Treasury Department sanctioned 13 oil tankers and their UAE-based operator Oceanlink Maritime for allegedly transporting Iranian oil on behalf of the country’s military, bringing the number of sanctioned ship to 258 tankers.
Copper Rallies on Resurging Supply Risks. The price of copper has jumped to the highest since January 2023 above $9,360 per metric tonne as reports of Ivanhoe Mines’ (TSE:IVN) giant DRC Kamoa-Kakula complex seeing a 6.5% drop in Q1 production alerted the market to the risks of tight supply.
Myanmar Conflict Might Threaten Chinese Infrastructure. Internecine strife in Myanmar might soon endanger Chinese crude supply as separatist militias from the Arakan Army have seized territory only miles away from Kyaukpyu port, feeding Petrochina’s 260,000 b/d Anning refinery in southwest China.
Update
Friday, April 5th 2024
Aided by a whirlwind of bullish news, Brent prices surpassed the $90 per barrel threshold and surged past the $91 per barrel mark on Friday morning. The anticipation of Iran’s retaliatory strike on Israel, a developing Mexico export shortage, and the continuation of OPEC+ cuts have boosted sentiment in the oil market recently. On the other hand, the potential of the Fed not cutting interest rates this year could pour some cold water on the oil price rally.
US Government Cancels SPR Repurchases. The US Energy Department announced it would “keep the taxpayer’s interest at the forefront” and scrapped its tender to buy 3 million barrels of strategic petroleum stocks in August and September as WTI rose to $86 per barrel this week.
Official TMX Pipeline Launch Sooner than Expected. The Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline announced it would start commercial operations on May 1, one month before market expectations, as Canada’s government wants to start the $25 billion project as soon as possible.
Investors Flee Diesel as Gasoline Reigns Supreme. Hedge funds and other money managers have been quitting their diesel positions, with CFTC data showing 25 million barrels sold in the NYH ULSD and ICE gasoil contracts the week ending March 26, as gasoline has become the product of preference.
Russia to Scale Back LNG Ambition. Russia’s LNG exporter Novatek might scale back its ambition of building a 19.8 mtpa liquefaction facility at the Arctic LNG 2 plant and only build two trains instead of three, reusing one for a new project that would be built in ice-free waters.
Senegal’s New President Launches State Probe. Bassirou Faye, the newly elected President of Senegal, has oil companies on tenterhooks after he called for a nationwide audit of the oil, gas and mining sectors, potentially affecting the launch of Woodside’s (ASX:WDS) Sangomar project.
Shell Asks for Long-Term Venezuela Guarantees. UK-based oil major Shell (LON:SHEL) asked the US government for a long-term license before it takes an FID on the 4.2 TCf Dragon offshore gas field in Venezuela, with the current White House waiver running out in October 2025.
Mexico Goes on an Oil Export Cancellation Spree. Mexico’s state oil firm Pemex asked its trading unit to cancel up to 436,000 b/d of crude exports in April to have enough crude for the Dos Bocas refinery, just as the country’s crude production has fallen to a 45-year low in recent months.
Https://oilprice.com/Energy/Oil-Prices/Wall-Street-Remains-On-The-Sidelines-as-Oil-Jumps-to-90.html
The Department of Energy has canceled its latest tender for crude oil for the replenishment of the strategic petroleum reserve after oil prices moved higher than the DoE is comfortable with.
Last month, the DoE purchased 2.8 million barrels at a price of $81 per barrel, which was higher than its self-imposed ceiling of $79 per barrel. It appears the department is unwilling to keep paying more for SPR oil, saying it was “keeping the taxpayer’s interest at the forefront”, per Bloomberg.
“We will not award the current solicitations for the Bayou Choctaw SPR site and will solicit available capacity as market conditions allow,” the department said. “We will continue to monitor market dynamics.”
West Texas Intermediate topped $85 per barrel this week as Brent crude moved closer to $90 per barrel amid heightened geopolitical tensions in Russia and Ukraine and in the Middle East.
Despite the price volatility, the DoE said earlier this year it planned to refill the SPR by the end of the year. The bulk of the “refill” seems to be coming from canceled sales from the SPR rather than from buying additional volumes.
The U.S. saw the stockpiles of crude oil in the SPR fall from 638 million barrels at President Joe Biden’s inauguration to just 347 million barrels by the summer of 2023 as the administration tried to bring down gasoline prices for consumers by releasing over 180 million barrels from the SPR.
The large sell-off in the country’s safety supply of crude oil was met with criticism. Also met with criticism has been the administration’s slow response to falling oil prices. Now prices are trending higher again, placing a barrier in front of further purchases. The pause in new SPR buys could extend if expectations of a prolonged oil price rally materialize.