Global recession fears push oil prices lower
Amidst the endless seesawing of oil prices, last week’s strong OPEC+ message continues to reverberate in the markets, primarily in the United States where the drastic production cut has nudged legislators to reevaluate their relationship with Middle Eastern kingdoms. Yet another topic emerged this week, an evergreen classic pushing oil prices down – Chinese COVID lockdowns are back on the agenda as the cities of Shanghai and Shenzhen are increasingly likely to see movement restrictions amidst a flareup in infection cases.
U.S. lawmakers are considering passing legislation that would target OPEC on the grounds of the oil group breaching antitrust legislation, potentially even revivingthe NOPEC legislation from earlier years, remove U.S. troops stationed in Saudi Arabia and UAE and cut arms supplies.
U.S.-Iranian nuclear talks on how to revive the 2015 JCPOA agreement are likely to resume after the U.S. midterm elections on 8 November, said the Russian envoy to the Vienna talks, saying the sides are “5 seconds away” from reaching a final agreement.
According to news reports, the government of Lebanon is satisfied with the latest draft of a U.S.-brokered maritime border deal with Israel, saying that it satisfies all of its requirements and could imminently lead to a “historic” deal.
As if the Russia-Ukraine war were not enough, heavy rainfall in India has damagedkey summer crops such as rice, soybean, and cotton, putting quite an upside pressure on inflation (already at 7%) and potentially forcing the Bank of India to raise interest rates again.
The German government has failed to approvea draft law that would put two of the country’s last nuclear power plants on reserve after their halt in late 2022, following an objection from the finance ministry that the lifespan extension should be longer than April 2023.
Canada’s province of Alberta is set to mounta battle against the Trudeau federal government after Danielle Smith was voted in as its new premier, pledging to defy federal laws it does not like and legally challenge the government’s carbon tax.
The exodus of investors from global bond and equity fund markets continuesas last week saw the seventh straight week of withdrawals, totaling almost $25 billion, whilst the money markets saw a net influx of $63 billion, the highest weekly figure since July.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) agreedto a long-term goal of reaching net-zero aviation emissions by 2050 despite challenges from China saying developing nations are unlikely to meet that goal.
Europe’s benchmark TTF spot prices have dropped to their lowestin three months, at €160 per MWh or $51/mmBtu, as a milder-than-expected autumn has been keeping market sentiment upbeat, buttressed by ample supplies of LNG arriving to Europe.
With refinery strikes moving into their fourth week in France, the largest trade union CGT declinedto end blockades of downstream assets in return for TotalEnergies’ (NYSE:TTE)to bring wage talks forward, with fuel output already 60% down.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signeda decree establishing a new operator company for the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project, the last PSA agreement to be still led by a Western firm – ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM)– as sanctions brought its production to a halt.
The government of Austria has fileda legal challenge against the European Union’s classification of nuclear energy and gas as “green” in its taxonomy, seeking to enlist as many other countries (Germany or Denmark) into the legal action as possible.
According to recent rumors, California-focused oil producer Berry Corporation (NASDAQ:BRY)is exploring strategic options that could lead to its sale – despite being one of the oldest firms in the state, producing oil in California is becoming an increasingly uphill battle as the state is to phase out production by 2045. OilPrice.com