Новости за 02.04.2024

Crude oil inventories in the United States fell this week by 2.286 million barrels for the week ending March 29, according to The American Petroleum Institute (API). Analysts had expected an inventory draw of 2 million barrels. This comes after the API reported a staggering 9.337-million-barrel jump in crude inventories in the week prior. On Tuesday, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) rose by another 0.6 million barrels as of March 29. Читать дальше...

Via Metal Miner The start of this year presented mixed signals for the global economy. Prices witnessed the continuation of a strong rally from late February going into March. This helped create a lot of positivity in the metals market and market in general, boosting sentiment regarding a strong, healthy U.S. economy. Markets such as the SP500 and the NASDAQ, saw modest gains week over week to deliver the indices’ best February performance since 2015. February economic data, such as payroll figures... Читать дальше...

The competition in China's EV world continues to heat up, as the market becomes more and more saturated.  The country's automakers are aggressively trying to take advantage of Tesla's recent price hikes by offering incentives, while at the same time gearing up to compete with the "disruptive" entry of Xiaomi into the market, Bloomberg reported this week.  The report notes that on April 1, Shanghai-based Nio unveiled an incentive plan worth up to 1 billion yuan ($186.4 million) to encourage gasoline vehicle owners to switch... Читать дальше...

Russia’s crude oil exports by sea reached the highest point yet this year in the last week of March, as weather conditions at Russia’s Pacific Port improved. Bloomberg tanker tracking data shows that four-week average seaborne crude exports in the period to March 31 reached their highest level since November. Russia agreed to cut crude oil exports throughout the first quarter as part of its role in OPEC+, which has been trying to keep control of the oil market. Under the agreement, Russia agreed... Читать дальше...

The air quality in Central Asian states is among the worst in the world, according to corporate study that measured pollution in over 130 countries around the world. The 2023 World Air Quality Report, compiled by Swiss-based IQAir, measured air-borne harmful particles, known as PM2.5, in over 7,800 locations. The findings showed that Central Asia trailed behind South Asian and Gulf states as having the some of worst regional air quality in the world.  Bangladesh, Pakistan and India ranked one, two... Читать дальше...

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory researchers found the promise of coating the inner surface of the vessel containing a fusion plasma in liquid lithium guides them toward the best practices for fueling their plasmas. The research, which is featured in a new paper in Nuclear Fusion, includes observations, numerical simulations and analysis from their experiments inside a fusion plasma vessel called the Lithium Tokamak Experiment-Beta (LTX-β). (Please note, there is a dearth of attention grabbing media available for this post... Читать дальше...

Europe has managed to make it through this winter season with record levels of natural gas in storage, setting it up to head into next winter on solid ground. With the end of March essentially wrapping up the typical winter season, natural gas stores in Europe remain 58.7% full, Gas Infrastructure Europe’s data shows—a new record. The previous record was set last winter when Europe ended with about 56% of natural gas stores filled. Europe will now begin the process of refilling its natural gas stores—it’s... Читать дальше...

Qatar is backing up its massive LNG expansion plans with new orders to charter dozens of new ships as the tiny Gulf gas producer aims to solidify its dominance in the global LNG export market.   Last year, the United States overtook Qatar as the world’s largest LNG exporter, but Qatar has a huge expansion program underway to boost its export capacity by 85% from current levels by 2030. As the U.S. paused permit approvals for new LNG export projects earlier this year, adding uncertainty about the... Читать дальше...

SLB, the world’s top oilfield services provider, announced on Tuesday a definitive agreement to buy smaller competitor ChampionX Corporation in an all-stock deal valued at $7.75 billion, as the energy sector consolidation extends to the oilfield services segment. SLB and ChampionX announced the agreement whose terms stipulate that ChampionX shareholders will receive 0.735 shares of SLB common stock in exchange for each ChampionX share. At the closing of the transaction ChampionX shareholders will... Читать дальше...

The latest surge in gasoline prices at the pump, something we detailed last week (read: here), could begin to impact the Biden administration's reelection outlook unless the White House unleashes market interventions to arrest surging prices and prevent the national average cost of gas from breaching the critical level of $4/gallon.  Let's begin with hedge fund positioning: These traders have pushed their bullish bets on gasoline futures in New York to the highest level in four years. New data from... Читать дальше...

Russia is preparing to welcome Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on an official visit soon, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, as the oil-producing countries Russia and Venezuela continue to maintain close ties in defiance of the Western powers. Maduro’s visit is in the works, with the dates currently being discussed, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow on Tuesday. “Yes, it [the visit] is being prepared,” Peskov said, as quoted by Russian news agency TASS. Russia and Venezuela... Читать дальше...

A combination of rising geopolitical risk and supply disruptions has pushed oil prices higher, with Brent looking increasingly likely to break the $90 mark.- Energy stocks have started to outperform the wider stock market as Brent is nearing 89 per barrel this week, with energy leading the S&P 500’s eleven market sectors in March thanks to a 10% rise.- The oil markets are anticipating the OPEC monitoring meeting on April 3, looking for potential clues on the directionality of pricing, with JPMorgan... Читать дальше...

The landmark ruling of a Dutch court that ordered Shell to slash its emissions could obstruct the role the supermajor can play in the energy transition and could slow the fight against climate change, Shell’s lawyers argued on Tuesday in the hearing of the company’s appeal against the ruling. Back in 2021, the District Court in The Hague ordered the oil supermajor to slash its carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 in a landmark ruling in a climate case brought by environmentalists that could set precedents... Читать дальше...

The Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) of OPEC+ is unlikely to propose any changes to oil production policy when it meets on April 3, numerous sources in the alliance have told Reuters. The JMMC, the panel that takes stock of oil market developments and proposes courses of action to the ministers of the OPEC+ group, is meeting on Wednesday, just as oil prices hit their highest level so far this year – and the highest in five months – amid renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East... Читать дальше...

Despite stricter enforcement of the U.S. sanctions against Russian oil exports, some tankers loaded with Russia’s Sokol crude grade are near India signaling Indian ports as their destinations, vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg showed on Tuesday.   After more than a year of gorging on cheaper Russian crude, Indian refiners began to avoid Sokol shipments at the end of last year and avoid taking delivery of crude loaded on tankers of Russian state fleet owner Sovcomflot, following the ramp-up... Читать дальше...

A joint venture of U.S. supermajor Chevron has launched its 2024 drilling campaign by drilling the first of 17 planned wells as part of a plan to boost production, the other owner of the joint venture, Venezuela’s state oil firm PDVSA, said in statement on Monday.   Petroindependencia, the joint venture of PDVSA and Chevron, launched the first new well from this year’s drilling campaign.   Chevron has U.S. authorization to operate in Venezuela with its joint ventures with PDVSA, while the U.S. Administration... Читать дальше...

China will raise the retail prices of gasoline and diesel to reflect recent changes in international crude oil prices, Xinhua reported, citing the National Development and Reform Commission—the country’s central economic planning body. Brent crude has gained some $10 per barrel since the start of the year and West Texas Intermediate is trading around $12 per barrel higher now than it did at the start of January. The price increase reflects tightening global supply and a better outlook for demand. Читать дальше...

PetroChina has become the second-largest company in China by market value after it overtook the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. Bloomberg reported that the oil major’s stock had soared by 42% since the start of the year, bringing its market value to the equivalent of some $244 billion. The surge was a result of higher oil prices that have lifted energy stocks around the world. PetroChina had the added advantage of a strong recovery in domestic oil demand, which led to record profits and dividend payouts... Читать дальше...

North Dakota is close to hitting total oil production of 5 billion barrels, local media has reported, citing the director of the state’s Department of Mineral Resources. According to Lyn Helms, the biggest challenge for the energy industry in the state that is home to the Bakken shale play is extending the life of the play amid pipeline capacity constraints. The constraints are emerging as production moves from the center of the play outwards. This is especially true of natural gas pipelines to take... Читать дальше...

Last year, Bloomberg caused quite a stir in energy circles when it predicted that global demand for road fuel will peak in 2027. According to Bloomberg, demand for road fuel will hit an all-time high of 49 million barrels per day just three years from now before entering terminal decline. Bloomberg says that rapid adoption of electric vehicles, shared mobility and ever-improving fuel efficiency are the biggest bear catalysts for oil, with EVs expected to displace a staggering 20 million barrels per day in oil demand by 2040... Читать дальше...

When OPEC and its partners led by Russia first announced additional oil production cuts last year, the market brushed it off. Prices fell. Forecasts for peak oil demand echoed off news publications. OPEC+ persevered, however. It persevered to the point where some analysts noted that there was no longer a way back, and the cartel would have to make the cuts permanent if it didn't want to see prices plummet at the slightest sign of production growth. And then something happened. The market caught up. Читать дальше...

Shell Oil Company recently released a revised version of climate-related goals entitled  “Shell Energy Transition Strategy 2024”. This is Shell’s first strategy revision since 2021. The company made several minor revisions to its net carbon intensity targets which measure total carbon emitted divided by total energy sales. The target for 2030, which had been a 20% reduction, was lowered to 15-20% and the corporate carbon intensity target for 2035 was “retired.” Some commenters noted that Shell appeared... Читать дальше...

For decades, Big Tech has been one of the largest and most innovative proponents of clean energy. Silicon Valley giants have put considerable amounts of money and effort into making their companies greener and supporting renewable energy growth. But in recent years, the conversation around the tech sector’s energy use has changed from one of pride and optimism to a far more anxious conversation colored by an uncertain future. The problem? Artificial Intelligence.  While renewable energy production... Читать дальше...