Asia’s light ends markets were entering the May 23-27 trading week on a strong note, supported by firmer crude futures, with gasoline also boosted by supply disruptions and improving travel demand. While naphtha was expected to seeing more activity for H1 July delivery this week as a only handful of end-users have purchased cargoes to date, steam crackers were operating at lower rates and cheaper LPG remains an alternative. LPG is largely supported by stronger crude futures in a persistently well-supplied market, with buyers holding back for bargains. Gasoline ** ...

Iranian state firms have started preparations to revamp Venezuela’s largest oil refinery, the 955,000-barrel-per-day Paraguana Refining Center, four people close to the talks said, following a contract to repair its smallest facility. A deal would deepen an energy relationship that has become a lifeline for Venezuela’s dilapidated oil industry amid a crisis caused by decades of mismanagement and underinvestment, and aggravated by U.S. sanctions on the South American country. The Middle Eastern nation, also sanctioned by the United States, has supplied President Nicolas Maduro’s government with fuel and diluents for ...

British wholesale gas prices rose on Monday morning on lower Norwegian supply and the risk of outages being extended. UK gas for immediate delivery jumped by 59 pence to 135 pence per therm by 0809 GMT, its highest level since May 3. The day-ahead price was 25 pence higher at 134 pence/therm. This was mostly due to an under-supplied system, lower flows from Norway and the risk of Norwegian outages being extended, traders said. Norwegian flows via the Langeled pipeline have fallen to 38 million cubic meters (mcm) per day ...

Russian Industry Minister Denis Manturov on Monday called on countries in the group of emerging economies known as the BRICS to establish joint oil and gas refining facilities with Russia, TASS news agency reported. Manturov said the move would help reduce the bloc’s dependence on energy supplies from “unreliable partners”, according to TASS. The BRICS countries are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Source: Reuters

By May 18, the volume of gas in storage was slightly above the ten-year average (+2 TWh) up from a large deficit at the end of January (-134 TWh). But with storage already above average, inventories cannot continue accumulating at such a rate without threatening to overwhelm available capacity. Futures prices for deliveries this summer are already softening to slow storage additions and encourage more consumption by industrial users and power producers. Benchmark futures for deliveries scheduled in July 2022 have fallen close to their lowest since Russia’s invasion of ...

Asian demand for July-loading Middle East medium sour grades has strengthened as healthy refinery margins for middle distillates, improved Chinese appetite and a closed arbitrage window allayed concerns that cheap Russian barrels could curtail buying, market sources told S&P Global Commodity Insights. Medium sour crudes such as Oman Blend, Al-Shaheen and Upper Zakum were attracting ample demand in Asia as middle distillate cracks surged and China returns to the market after a COVID-19 induced buying lull, traders said. Chinese demand has been a concern due to lockdowns in Shanghai hurting ...

Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices were down this week despite news of potential COVID lockdown easing in China as players await an actual rebound in procurement activity to meet Autum-Winter seasonal demand. Meanwhile, in Europe, concerns about Russian pipeline supply have slightly receded on signs that some European buyers are paying for Russian gas via a new payment mechanism, with half of Gazprom’s 54 clients have opened accounts at Gazprombank, as European companies approach imminent payment deadlines. The average LNG price for July delivery into north-east Asia LNG-AS ...

The crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused a massive shift in the global gas market. Change is happening at pace – and most of it will be irreversible. Our latest Global gas strategic planning outlook provides a view of how the market will re-shape, exploring the risks and opportunities for market players. Contact us via the form on this page to find out more about the report, or read on for an overview of three key themes: 1. Europe – there is no coming back on Russian ...

German big business is drafting a plan to use an auction system to help ration available supplies in the event Russia cuts off its gas, although some fear it could punish smaller firms. Discussions on possible rationing have gathered urgency after Russia halted gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland last month. That heightened concerns the same will happen to Germany, which is heavily dependent on Russian gas and is approaching a deadline this month to pay for the fuel under a rouble scheme demanded by Moscow. Adding to the nervousness, ...

As part of its efforts to foster a greener and more sustainable economy, China, the world’s largest energy producer and consumer, is rapidly reducing the intensity of its energy consumption. In 2021, the country’s energy intensity — energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) — decreased by 2.7 percent from the previous year, and the decline came as the energy intensity fell by 28.7 percent from 2011 to 2020, one of the fastest reductions in the world. From 2016 to 2020, China’s average annual economic growth of 5.7 ...

US natural gas working stocks increased by 89 Bcf in the week ended May 13, narrowing the deficit to the five-year average slightly, but not by enough to calm supply concerns in the futures market. Storage inventories rose to 1.732 Tcf for the week ended May 13, the US Energy Information Administration reported May 19. The build was 2 Bcf more than an S&P Global Commodity Insights’ survey of analysts calling for an 87 Bcf injection, but in line with S&P Global’s supply-demand model’s prediction of 89 Bcf. The injection ...

Russia’s Gazprom suspended natural gas supplies to Gasum on May 21 after the Finnish company refused to pay for Russian gas in rubles, the two companies said in separate statements. Gasum said previously that it will be able to supply all of its customers in coming months with gas imported via the Balticconnector with Estonia. The cut-off was expected and comes after Bulgaria and Poland refused to comply with the new ruble-based payment decree and were cut off from Russian gas in late April. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sparked ...

U.S. natural gas futures slid about 3% on Friday as output slowly rises and on forecasts for milder weather and lower demand over the next two weeks than previously expected. That decline comes despite a jump in the amount of gas flowing to U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants over the past couple of days to a near seven-week high following the end of maintenance outages at some Gulf Coast plants. U.S. front-month gas futures NGc1 for June delivery fell 22.5 cents, or 2.7%, to settle at $8.083 per ...

British and Dutch wholesale gas prices fell on Friday morning as Norwegian exports rose after an early end to an outage, increased liquefied natural gas send-out and after an EU deal on storage filling. The Dutch weekend contract was 0.95 euro lower at 87.05 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) by 0834 GMT, while the June contract dipped by 0.35 euro to 89.50 euros/MWh. In the British market, the weekend contract fell by 18.00 pence to 85.00 pence per therm, while the Winter 2022 price was down by 6.09 pence at ...

Poland would be interested in cooperating with Portugal on potential LNG trans-shipping, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Friday, adding that gas could be sent to other countries to help them cut their dependence on Russia. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Union has been scrambling to find alternatives to Russian gas supplies, which account for 40% of the bloc’s total requirement. Moscow has also demanded gas be paid for in roubles in response to Western sanctions. “Poland is becoming a gas hub, so if we could obtain additional ...