Oil
Trade Wars Spark Uncertainty in Global Oil Markets
Fears of further trade wars and rumours of a potential Ukraine deal have contributed to choppy price movements this week.
Brent still oscillating around the $70 per barrel mark. OPEC+ continues to loom large on the horizon, too, after Saudi Arabia’s foolhardy zeal to bring back oil in April seemed to have tamed investors’ bullish sentiment, making them wary of a prolonged period of oversupply in H2 2025.
Fatih Birol, the director of the IEA, stated that there is a need for oil and gas upstream investments to address declines in existing fields, softening the agency’s tone after a 2021 blanket call not to invest in new oil and gas projects to reach net-zero by 2050, OilPrice.com reports.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have announced that if Israel will not allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip by the evening of March 11, they will resume attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea following a two-month hiatus.
According to Reuters, the White House asked the Department of Treasury to consider ways how to ease energy sanctions on Russia quickly in case Moscow agrees to a Trump-brokered ceasefire, with Saudi Arabia set to host a Trump-Putin meeting soon.
As Canada is preparing for a new Prime Minister in Mark Carney, Alberta premier Danielle Smith signalled that if the US and Canada resolve their tariff issues, there could be two new cross-border pipelines built exporting an additional 2 million b/d by 2030.
The US-flagged tanker Stena Immaculate carrying jet fuel from Greece to the UK collided with a Portuguese-flagged container vessel off the coast of Yorkshire in the UK, with kerosene contaminating the waters and both vessels catching fire upon the collision.
US natural gas prices soared to $4.47 per mmBtu in Monday trading, marking the highest reading since December 2022, buoyed by Canadian gas imports dropping by 1 Bcf/d to 8.7 Bcf/d over the past week and record LNG feedgas demand.
India’s imports of thermal coal have dropped for the sixth straight month in February, down by 15% month-over-month to 12.16 million tonnes, as higher renewable generation was amplified by a slowdown in manufacturing activity across the country.
ADNOC, the national oil company of the UAE, is considering listing its $80 billion low-carbon investment arm XRG on an exchange outside of the Emirates, asking Bank of America to advise on a future IPO strategy that could well happen on NYSE.
Just as the Trump administration ordered US oil major Chevron to wind down operations in Venezuela by April 3, the Latin American country’s crude output posted its first monthly decline in months to 1.022 million b/d, with further downside ahead.
Having delayed tariffs on Canadian oil by a month, US President Trump decided to slap an additional 25% tariff on Canada’s steel and aluminium imports into the United States, concurrently declaring a national emergency on electricity.
Seeing its production skyrocket to 2.12 million b/d, more than a 500,000 b/d above its 1.468 million b/d OPEC+ quota, the government of Kazakhstan started negotiations with Western oil majors operating there to cut output by 620,000 b/d.
US President Trump rescinded a 2018 sanctions waiver that allowed Iraq to purchase electricity from Iran, prompting the Iraqi government to hastily lease a 500 Mcf/d floating LNG terminal and start negotiations on potential supplies with Qatar and Oman.
Nigeria’s giant 650,000 b/d Dangote refinery has initiated talks to extend its existing crude supply contract with the country’s state oil firm NNPC, ending later this month, as payments are taking in place in the local naira currency, avoiding forex risks.
