Giant Chevron and mid-cap Cheniere have said they are bullish on natural gas demand, which Chevron CEO Mike Wirth says he expects to beat expectations due to surging electricity consumption from big tech. Speaking to CNBC on Monday, Wirth said that while the market for natural gas was evolving rapidly, making it difficult to pin down, he expects soaring electricity consumption from artificial intelligence (AI) and data centers, combined with efforts to electrify the American vehicle fleet and manufacturing... Читать дальше...
By John Kemp, senior energy analyst at Reuters Saudi Arabia and its allies in OPEC? are likely to keep oil production unchanged for a further three months when ministers review output allocations on June 1. The tightening of petroleum supplies and depletion of inventories widely anticipated at the start of the year has failed to materialise so far. If OPEC+ officials had hoped to increase production into a tightening market characterised by rising oil prices they are likely to be frustrated. Crude stocks... Читать дальше...
By Mish Shedlock of MishTalk The lie of the day is from the EPA: Carbon capture will pay for itself (thanks to IRA subsidies). No, it won’t even with subsidies. Expect blackouts and a higher price for electricity. Suite of Standards to Raise Costs, Reduce Output Let’s take a dive into the EPA news release Biden-Harris Administration Finalizes Suite of Standards to Reduce Pollution from Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants “Today, EPA is proud to make good on the Biden-Harris Administration’s vision to... Читать дальше...
Via Metal Miner The Raw Steels Monthly Metals Index (MMI) moved sideways, with a modest 1.86% decline from April to May. U.S. flat-rolled steel prices found a bottom at the close of March and proceeded to move sideways. HRC prices saw a modest increase but ultimately closed the month at $838 per short ton. Meanwhile, HRC Midwest Futures saw a strong decline throughout April, which saw the delta between MetalMiner HRC prices and futures narrow to a mere $1 per short ton as of May 1. This signals that... Читать дальше...
Shell is preparing to divest from downstream operations in South Africa as a result of an internal portfolio review, Shell said in a statement on Monday reported by Reuters and confirmed in an interview with the Daily Maverick just hours later. Shell holds a majority share in Shell Downstream SA (SDSA), which was formed by the merger agreement between Shell South Africa and Thebe Investment Corporation a decade ago. The partnership was intended to merge Shell’s marketing and refining business, with Thebe... Читать дальше...
One of the recent positives for bonds and non-energy stocks could have run its course after Saudi Arabia raised the price of its flagship crude to Asia for a third consecutive month, according to Bloomberg markets live reporter Garfield Reynolds Over the weekend, state-owned Saudi Aramco raised the June official selling price of Arab Light crude for customers in Asia by 90 cents to $2.90 a barrel above the regional Oman-Dubai benchmark, Bloomberg reported. It compares with an increase of 60 cents... Читать дальше...
Ten years ago this week, we posted one of out most viral stories, highlighting the over-capacity in the auto industry: "Where the World's Unsold Cars Go To Die," which highlighted the 'endgame' of automakers' 'channel stuffing' efforts to disguise the sudden lack of demand for all the exciting new models that they had forecast would boom to the moon... And now, as MishTalk's Mike Shedlock reports, we are seeing similar pictures across Europe... "Some are parked here for a year, sometimes more."... Читать дальше...
Four unnamed sources have told Reuters that Saudi state-run oil giant Aramco is in talks to potentially acquire Shell’s billion-dollar gas station business in Malaysia, where the Dutch supergiant owns a network of nearly 1,000 fuel stations. Neither Shell nor Aramco would comment on the rumor of the talks for Reuters; however, one source told the news agency that talks began late last year and could be finalized in a matter of months. A second source told Reuters that the deal could be worth over $1 billion. Читать дальше...
The U.S. Department of Energy has finalized a rule banning fossil fuels from new and renovated federal buildings. The Clean Energy for New Federal Buildings and Major Renovations of Federal Buildings Rule, mandated by the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007, mandates a phased reduction in fossil fuel usage in these buildings. The law requires federal buildings and major renovations to phase out fossil fuel-generated energy consumption by 2030. This provision had been pending due to regulatory delays until now. Читать дальше...
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has terminated talks to buy a stake in Brazil’s petrochemicals company Braskem from its controlling company Novonor, Braskem said on Monday. At the end of last year, the state oil giant of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) proposed a non-binding offer to buy a stake in Braskem, in an offer implying an equity value of $2.14 billion (10.5 billion Brazilian reals) for Novonor’s 38.3% stake in the Brazilian company. The non-binding offer from November was conditional... Читать дальше...
Russia’s oil and gas revenues hit $13.5 billion (1.23 trillion Russian rubles) in April, Russian finance ministry data showed on Monday. The Kremlin received nearly double the oil income for the Russian budget that it did in the same month of 2023, per Bloomberg’s estimates. The weaker Russian ruble and the higher price of Russia’s flagship Urals crude amid higher international oil prices contributed to higher revenues from oil-related taxes and from all total oil and gas sales, per Bloomberg’s calculations. Читать дальше...
China has added more than 34 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear power capacity over the past decade as new installations surge, the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) said in an analysis on Monday. As of April 2024, China had 55 operating nuclear reactors with a total net capacity of 53.2 GW, while another 23 reactors are currently under construction. The United States still has the largest nuclear fleet in the world, with 94 reactors, but it took nearly 40 years to add the same nuclear power capacity as China added in 10 years, the EIA noted. Читать дальше...
French prosecutors have opened an investigation into supermajor TotalEnergies for possible involuntary manslaughter for failing to protect its subcontractors during a deadly attack in Mozambique close to a planned LNG project. TotalEnergies holds a 26.5% stake in the Mozambique LNG project, which was put on hold in 2021 following Islamist militant attacks in towns close to the site. The project site is close to Palma in the Cabo Delgado province, where Islamic State-affiliated militants have been active for a few years. Читать дальше...
China’s state-owned energy giant Sinopec is in talks with Pembina Pipeline Corporation over buying a stake in a planned Canadian LNG project and an offtake agreement for LNG from the facility on the Pacific coast, Reuters reported on Monday, quoting unnamed sources familiar with the development. Pembina is a partner in the proposed Cedar LNG floating LNG export facility in Kitimat, British Columbia, alongside the Haisla Nation. Cedar LNG is the world’s first Indigenous majority-owned LNG project... Читать дальше...
BP is expected to reverse a previous commitment to reduce oil and gas production by the end of the decade amid a broader pivot in the industry to continue providing the hydrocarbons the world needs, some of the biggest shareholders in the UK-based supermajor told the Financial Times. BP’s peer Shell has already eased its carbon intensity target for 2030 as it has shifted away from clean power sales to retail customers. While keeping their 2050 net-zero targets intact, Europe’s major oil companies... Читать дальше...
Saudi Aramco has raised the official selling price of all the grades it exports to Asia, with flagship Arab Light for delivery in June set to become $0.90 more expensive, Bloomberg reported citing a pricing list it had seen. The move pushed international oil prices higher, Reuters reported earlier today, as it fueled expectations of stronger demand during the summer. The price hike, per Reuters, extended to Europe as well. The new price for a barrel of Arab Light comes in at $2.90 over the regional Oman/Dubai benchmark... Читать дальше...
The Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund’s investment arm, Mubadala Capital, plans to make a substantial investment in biofuels in Brazil, the Financial Times has reported, quoting the head of Mubadala’s Brazilian operations. The $13.5-billion investment in biofuels is part of a broader investment plan for Brazil that may also include setting up a new stock exchange in the country, Oscar Fahlgren told the FT. “It’s all about feedstock [which] in reality is agriculture. And Brazil is probably the best-placed... Читать дальше...
Global gasoline demand is set to decline sizeable this year, according to Wood Mackenzie, driven by greater adoption of electric vehicles, the consultancy said, as quoted by Reuters. "Penetration of electric vehicles has been increasing in the U.S. and China," Wood Mac analyst Sushant Gupta said. "For this year Chinese demand will grow by only 10,000 bpd, due to higher EV uptake." EV sales in China are seen by some local analysts rising by 24% this year to a total of 11 million vehicles. This would... Читать дальше...
Oil prices have recorded the biggest weekly decline in three months thanks in large part to challenging economic indicators and growing demand concerns. Last week, U.S. crude inventories posted an unexpected rise, with the American Petroleum Institute (API) reporting a build of 4.91 million barrels, a sharp contrast from the anticipated decrease of 1.1 million barrels. This build has come after reports that U.S. crude production surged to 13.15 million barrels per day in February, up from 12.58 million barrels in January... Читать дальше...
The United States says Russia is violating UN-imposed limits on total shipments of fuels to North Korea, signaling it is preparing more sanctions against entities involved in facilitating Pyongyang's access to petroleum products above the UN-mandated levels. The UN Security Council has imposed a limit of 500,000 barrels of annual supply of all refined petroleum products to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), as North Korea is officially known, in an effort to curb its nuclear weapons program. Читать дальше...
