Oil, gas companies report mixed signals for investors

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The Q1 earnings reports of oil and gas companies have so far sent mixed signals to investors – US refiners have been enjoying particularly strong results while upstream-focused players tended to stagnate – however the market was evidently not ready for Chinese economic data to come in so low. China’s PMI decline from 51.9 in March to 49.2 in April has shaken the last bastion of the oil bulls, the prospect of Chinese demand lifting oil prices out of their current apathy, and set the pace for a sizable weekly loss.

According to Bloomberg, Saudi national oil company Saudi Aramco (TADAWUL:2222) is in talks with Sinopec and TotalEnergies for a $10 billion that would seek to develop the unconventional gas resources of the Jafurah gas field.

Imports of LNG into key Asian consumption hubs have dropped to the lowest this year according to Kpler data, coming in at 20.9 million tonnes in April, as subdued buying from China and Japan lowered JKM LNG prices to $11.5 per mmBtu.

French oil major TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) agreed to purchase LNG from Emirati national oil company ADNOC worth $1.2 billion, without disclosing the volumes for the three-year contract, securing liquefied gas supplies for the upcoming winter.

California Bans Diesel-Powered Trucks. California’s energy regulator voted to approve new emission rules that would require all medium- and heavy-duty vehicles sold in the state to be zero-mission by 2036, expecting to see a $48 billion in trucking operating costs.

US LNG exporter Venture Global LNG announced a deal to supply 1 million tonnes of liquefied gas per year to Japan’s JERA for a period of 20 years, only two months after it allocated 2 mtpa from the same CP2 project to China Gas Holdings.

US oil major Chevron (NYSE:CVX) has increased sales of its equity Venezuelan barrels to rival US refiners, recently delivering crude to PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) and Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) alongside flows to its own Pascagoula refinery.

According to Reuters, employees that rejected a plan presented by national oil company Pemex to develop the giant Quesqui field last year were forced out of national energy regulator CNH, leading to a November 24 approval by the same commission.

Following initial reports last week that Iran seized a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker bound to the US, it turned out the escalation was a tit-for-tat response to the US’ confiscation of an Iranian cargo aboard the Suezmax vessel Suez Rajan earlier last week.

Norway intends to nationalize most of its gas pipelines once their existing concessions expire in 2028 in a bid to tighten security around its key objects of infrastructure, winding down the Gassled partnership established in 2003.

Nigeria’s 210,000 b/d Port Harcourt refinery, subject to extended rehabilitation works after a more than 3-year long standstill, indefinitely delayed the deadline of the first phase of its upgrading, keeping the African country without an operational refinery.

The US federal court in Delaware proposed fast-tracking the sale of the parent company of US refiner Citgo, still nominally owned by Venezuela’s PDVSA, to take advantage of high refining margins and garner at least $2.3 billion for Citgo’s creditors.

Leading oil producers in Brazil such as Shell (LON:SHEL), TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) and Equinor (NYSE:EQNR) have warned that if the temporary four-month tax on oil exports (at a 9.2% rate) gets prolonged, such a move would seriously damage investment.

In its latest Commodity Markets Outlook, the World Bank warned that metal prices are projected to fall by 8% in 2023 and a further 3% in 2024 on the back of weaker demand and increased supplies, especially with nickel and aluminium.