Oil
Oil Prices Are Rallying Once Again
Following several weeks of declines, oil prices are now rising once again on a combination of geopolitical risk, rising demand, and supply concerns, OilPrice.com reports.
Falling US crude inventories and robust Chinese imports have sparked some bullish sentiment in oil markets. Brent futures are set to post their first weekly gain since early April, moving closer to $85 per barrel, further boosted by the easing of the US labor market (jobless claims the highest in eight months) and Israel’s Rafah operation.
UK-based energy major Shell (LON:SHEL) has confirmed the sale of its 237,000 b/d Bukom refinery in Singapore to global trading house Glencore and Indonesian chemicals firm PT Chandra Asti in a deal worth some $1 billion.
According to media reports, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump vowed to reverse the Biden administration’s environmental rules and halt the current freeze on new LNG export terminals, asking them to raise $1 billion for his campaign.
China’s oil imports have risen year-over-year to about 10.88 million b/d last month, a 5.5% increase compared to April 2023, with refinery activity boosted by high-flying activity during the Labour Day holiday and also improving manufacturing activity.
Guyana’s government has greenlighted a bid for the shallow water block S-4 from TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE), Petronas, and QatarEnergy, marking the first acreage to be allotted in the country since ExxonMobil landed the Stabroek block in 1999.
Canada’s oil major Suncor Energy (TSO:SU) will be leasing Aframax tankers to deliver crude oil shipped on the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) pipeline, avoiding third-party commodity trading shops, as it seeks to ramp up flows to PADD 5.
The US Department of Energy issued a solicitation for a new refill of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve now that WTI prices dropped to $79 per barrel, seeking to purchase 3.3 million barrels of oil for an October delivery to the Big Hill storage facility.
Three insurance companies have rejected the claim of US oil major Chevron (NYSE:CVX) over the seizure of its oil cargo that was seized by Iran last year, as the Chevron-chartered tanker Advantage Sweet was confiscated by the Iranian military in April 2023.
Global commodity trader Trafigura has agreed to expand its ownership of UK-based biodiesel firm Greenergy after buying the company’s European business, now taking over all Canadian assets for an undisclosed sum.
The US Treasury is poised to target Iran’s export capacities by targeting service providers in Singapore and Malaysia as approximately half of the Middle Eastern country’s exports carry out ship-to-ship transfers in the Malacca Strait, to be further shipped to China.
The platinum market is set for the largest supply shortfall in 10 years as Russia produces less and industrial demand remains firm, according to catalyst maker Johnson Matthey, with the deficit widening to 598,000 ounces from last year’s 518,000oz.
Electricity prices in Texas increased almost 100-fold this week, with ERCOT reporting spot prices at the North Hub jumping to $3,000 per MWh, as unusually warm weather boosts cooling demand amidst underperforming wind power generation.
As the Mexican government continues to keep its national oil firm Pemex afloat despite some $45 billion of maturing debt over the next 3 years, the country’s Finance Ministry said it wants to have a bigger say in the investment decisions taken.
Despite Saudi Aramco’s decision to cut back its production capacity expansion, the Saudi NOC reported a 23.8% increase in capital expenditure in Q1 2024, boosted by new investments into natural gas, renewables, and lower-carbon fuels.
