Russia's Fuel Export Ban Pushes Oil Prices Higher

Russia’s decision to ban fuel exports for an undetermined period boosted diesel prices again, with Europe seeing a whopping $45 per metric tonne day-to-day surge on its middle distillates. The rise in distillates also pushed oil prices higher, countering the downward pressure caused by economic concerns. While the US Fed reiterated its “higher for longer” interest rate policy, Europe is almost certain to head into contraction in Q3. The worsening macroeconomic outlook has kept oil prices largely unchanged compared to a week ago, with ICE Brent still hovering around $94 per barrel.

The Russian government has temporarily banned exports of gasoline and diesel to all countries apart from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan, in order to stabilize runaway fuel prices that have been hitting record highs almost every day in September, reports OilPrice.com

US oil major Chevron (NYSE:CVX) announced it had accepted recommendations from Australia’s labor arbitrage tribunal to end its dispute with trade unions at its Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG plants, as the regulator has the power to impose a deal.

Canada’s largest carbon capture and storage project, the $12.5 billion Pathways Alliance consortium backed by most of the country’s oil producers, said it will only move forward if the federal government locks in future carbon prices.

Venezuela’s government protested against Guyana’s most recent offshore oil bidding round, saying that whoever participates in the licensing of eight blocks will not have the right to explore the areas as they remain contested by Caracas.

The UK government delayed the country’s ban on new gasoline and diesel cars until 2035 from 2030 and backtracked on previous restrictions on heat pumps and insulation, citing “unacceptable costs” on British households from the hurried energy transition.

Unipec, the trading arm of China’s state-owned oil firm Sinopec, purchased 23 LNG cargoes in a major spot tender that closed last week, securing at least five cargoes for both November and December with awarded prices some $0.20 per mmBtu above JKM.

Having soared to $66 per pound, the highest since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, uranium prices are set to continue their unprecedented price rally towards 75-$80/lb amidst supply-side concerns, with UxC predicting a 66 million pound deficit for 2023.

Hydropower output in Asia’s two largest hydro producers, China and India, has plunged at the fastest rate in decades amid erratic weather and low precipitation, with China down 16% year-on-year whilst India edged lower by 6% compared to 2022.

A US federal judge ordered the US Department of Interior to expand the area offered in this month’s Gulf of Mexico auctioning, saying the White House’s last-minute decision to cut the lease area by 6 million acres contradicts applicable laws.

Europe’s power industry associations warn that the EU’s ambitious energy transition goals would require annual investments in electricity grids all the way to 2050 to be at least 85% higher than they are currently, arguing modernizing grids should have precedence over renewable buildouts.

Oil majors BP (NYSE:BP) and Shell (LON:SHEL) have reached an agreement with Trinidad and Tobago to explore three completely untapped deepwater blocks – 25a, 25b, and 27 – seeking to ramp up gas supply for their joint Atlantic LNG export project.

The EPA’s Science Advisory Board questioned whether corn-based ethanol is better for the environment than conventional fossil fuels, with biofuel-dedicated crops gradually trimming down the amount of land dedicated to food crops since 2007.

After Chinese authorities introduced export controls on two key chip-making rare metals germanium and gallium, total exports of the two metals in August plunged to zero, compared with 13.78 metric tonnes in July.

The Biden administration is proposing to ban mining and oil drilling in northern New Mexico for the next 50 years as part of the White House’s efforts to protect Native American lands, with the Sandoval country having a track record of graphite, gold, and silver deposits.