Oil tanks
Diplomatic Theater Leaves Crude Markets Unmoved
The Trump-Putin and subsequent Trump-Zelenskiy meetings provided ample talking points for the markets at large; however, the lack of sanctioning threats has been mostly a bearish factor for crude prices. The price drops of late have been relatively tiny, with ICE Brent still trading around $66 per barrel, yet the upside from here seems to be minimal, barring a sudden escalation.
Writing an op-ed in the Financial Times, Trump’s trade advisor Peter Navarro said India’s purchases of Russian oil were funding Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, just as a planned visit from US trade negotiators to New Delhi next week was called off, OilPrice.com reports.
Chinese exports of refined products rose to a 13-month high of 5.34 million tonnes last month, marking a 7% increase year-on-year, driven primarily by diesel flows as Europe continued to buy long-haul volumes, whilst domestic demand in China wanes.
Iran halted electricity exports to neighbouring Iraq, citing a surge in domestic consumption as the country’s power demand jumped to 77 GW, whilst Tehran had to ratchet up its own power imports from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to prevent blackouts.
With China’s LNG imports trending 20% compared to 2024 readings, July arrivals to the world’s once-largest LNG importer totalled only 35.51 million tonnes LNG, marking the ninth straight month of annual declines as JKM prices remain above $11/MMbtu.
Indonesia’s government plans to build at least 17 modular refineries across the country, with the country’s sovereign wealth fund, Danantara, keen to sign an $8 billion deal with US engineering firm KBR (NYSE:KBR) despite profitability concerns.
The Hammerfest LNG terminal in Norway’s Arctic was forced to shut its production of LNG this weekend due to an overheating electric transformer, less than two weeks after operator Equinor (NYSE:EQNR) restarted operations after a three-month maintenance.
Brazil’s largest independent oil producer Prio (BVMF:PRIO3) admitted that the country’s local regulator had ordered a full production halt at its 100,000 b/d Peregrino FPSO, citing the need for improvements in risk management documentation.
Global mining giant Glencore (LON:GLEN) has submitted applications to Argentina’s authorities for RIGI tax incentives, vowing to develop the $4 billion Agua Rica and $9.5 billion El Pachon copper mines in the country, creating 2,500 new jobs.
Ukraine’s military confirmed that its drones struck an oil pumping station in Russia’s Tambov region feeding the Druzhba pipeline that supplies some 210,000 b/d of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia, halting pipeline transportation in the conduit completely.
Australia’s upstream giant Santos (ASX:STO) announced that the ADNOC-led consortium, comprising Abu Dhabi’s holding company ADQ and PE firm Carlyle, will not be able to finalize its $18.7 billion bid for the producer for at least a month.
US President Donald Trump vowed to introduce tariffs on imports of steel and semiconductor chips over the coming weeks, adding that rates would be lower at the start to allow companies to relocate their manufacturing to the United States.
US mining firm Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) terminated its planned purchase of Anglo American’s Australian coking coal assets, failing to adjust the $3.8 billion purchase price after a fire at the Moranbah North mine, paving the way for arbitration.
Four LNG carriers linked to Novatek’s (MCX:NVTK) 19.8 mtpa Arctic LNG 2 project are headed towards Asia along the Northern Sea Route, putting an end to months of little activity as both the ships and the project remain under stringent US sanctions.
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