Optimism Returns to Oil Markets
Oil markets have responded positively to US-China talks in London, expecting a recovery in rare earth metal flows and global trade barriers.
ICE Brent has been surprisingly stable above $67 per barrel this week so far, still buoyed by macro tailwinds following last week’s positive US jobs report that set up the Fed for an interest rate cut soon, OilPrices.com reports.
The European Union proposed new sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream pipeline, a lower oil price cap that would see a drop from $60 per barrel to $45 per barrel, as well as additional bans on 22 Russian banks in its 18th sanctions package.
China’s Commerce Ministry said it is willing to accelerate the approval of rare earth exports to EU companies, just as trade talks between Beijing and Brussels on Europe’s treatment of Chinese EV cars have entered their final stage.
The US Department of Commerce reportedly informed nuclear equipment suppliers that their contracted sales to China’s power plants would now be subject to government restrictions, impacting companies like Emerson and Westinghouse.
China’s crude oil imports declined to 10.97 million b/d in May, a 3% month-on-month drop compared to April and yet another year-on-year decrease, as seasonal maintenance works, restricted Iranian imports, and high Saudi formula prices cut demand.
Defying recent write-downs from Shell’s Graff discovery, French oil major TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) is reportedly poised to outbid rivals such as Petrobras for a huge stake in Namibia’s Mopane discovery as Portugal’s Galp (ELI:GALP) is seeking a farm-in.
The US renewable energy industry is bracing for impact after residential solar company Sunnova Energy filed for bankruptcy Monday, fresh on the heels of a Chapter 11 filing of rooftop solar lender Solar Mosaic, amidst fears that there will be more to come.
With the monsoon season arriving in most parts of India, Thailand, and southern China two weeks ahead of its normal date of onset, lowering temperatures across the region, lowering LNG demand, and prompting India’s GAIL to resell 2 cargoes.
Germany’s SEFE signed a 10-year pipeline supply deal with Azerbaijan’s national oil company SOCAR for 1.5 Bcm per year, starting from 2026, the company’s first pipe deal since Berlin nationalized Gazprom’s German subsidiary.
Spot platinum prices rose for the sixth straight session on Monday, reaching their highest level since May 2021 at $1,200 per ounce after a stellar 33% bull run this year to date, amidst fears of tight supply as 2025 is expected to record a 1 million ounce deficit.
Japanese refiner has purchased a cargo of Russia’s Sakhalin Blend, the East Asian country’s first imports of Russian oil since the beginning of 2023, with the US exempting imports from the Sakhalin 2 until June 28 as Mitsui holds a 12.5% stake in it.
The government of the United Kingdom vowed to invest $19.3 billion to build the Sizewell C nuclear plant in southeast England, the second new nuclear unit to be built in two decades, with EDF’s Hinkley Point launching in 2029.
Saudi national oil firm Saudi Aramco (TADAWUL:2222) is in the final stage of extending a $5 billion oil-backed loan for Nigeria, although lower outright oil prices sparked price risk concerns amongst underwriters.