Asia’s naphtha refining profit margin declined on Tuesday amid a lack of demand due to ongoing cracker turnaround season, although hopes of tightening supplies from the West limited the downside. The crack fell by about $4 to $50.98 per metric ton over Brent crude. The price of second-half July naphtha fell by $3.50 to $674 per ton in backwardation price structure. “Blending component demand for gasoline production remains supportive but seems to be affected by the weakness seen in Europe, while overall requirements for petrochemical feedstock remained subdued,” Organization of ...

Dutch and British wholesale gas prices were mixed on Tuesday morning as warm weather continued to stay above seasonal averages, supporting softer demand. The benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub inched down by 0.45 euro to 29.30 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) by 0845 GMT, while the July contract TRNLTTFMc2 was down by 0.12 euro at 29.75 euros/MWh, LSEG data showed. In the British market, the front-month price TRGBNBPMc1 fell by 0.54 pence at 71.00 pence per therm, while the day ahead contract TRGBNBPD1 was 0.15 pence higher ...

Malaysia’s Petronas-owned liquefied natural gas (LNG) complex in Bintulu was out of operation after experiencing a power loss at 11:30 p.m. (1530 GMT) on May 10, said the state energy company in a statement on Tuesday. “The cause of the power loss has been identified and start-up efforts to resume operations are currently in progress,” the company said, adding that the facility was operating at optimal efficiency prior to the power loss. Petronas added that it is engaging with its partners and customers to mitigate the impact of the incident ...

U.S. spot natural gas prices in Texas averaged below zero for Tuesday for the fourth time this month and the 17th time since March as pipeline maintenance trapped gas in the Permian Shale in West Texas amid low demand for energy. U.S. next-day power and gas prices have turned negative several times so far this year, especially in Texas, Arizona and California. Negative prices signal there is too much power or gas being produced in a region. Energy firms can either reduce output, pay someone to take their power or ...

Asia’s middle distillates markets remained weak despite increasing activity in the paper swaps market, while GS Caltex started sales for its June cargoes by offering four in a tender. Traders were waiting to see how many spot cargoes the South Korean refiner is likely to offer after it trimmed output in May. More northeast Asian refiners are likely to start discussions soon, which will improve market liquidity. Several India-origin cargoes will be bound for Singapore and the Pacific again given the thin economical incentive for sellers to send cargoes west, ...

Dutch and British wholesale gas prices were mixed on Monday morning amid a comfortable supply/demand balance with warmer weather curbing demand and allowing storage injections. The benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub inched up by 0.15 euro to 30.00 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) by 0845 GMT, while the July contract was up by 0.19 euro at 30.14 euros/MWh, LSEG data showed. In the British market, the front-month price fell by 0.95 pence at 72.00 pence per therm. “Temperatures are now expected to fall slightly, albeit holding above ...

U.S. natural gas futures were little changed on Monday as forecasts for more demand next week than previously expected offset a rise in output over the weekend. Other factors also kept prices in check, including a bullish increase in the amount of gas flowing to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants with the return to near full service of Freeport LNG’s plant in Texas and the bearish extreme oversupply of gas still in storage. Analysts forecast the amount of gas in storage was around 31% above normal levels for this ...

Asian spot liquefied natural gas prices rose this week on stronger demand amid high temperatures in north and south China, pushing European buyers to bid at relatively narrow discounts to attract sellers. The average LNG price for June delivery into north-east Asia LNG-AS rose to $10.50 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), from $10.40/mmBtu in the previous week, industry sources estimated. “We have seen Asian and European prices rise higher, mostly following news of the Gorgon LNG outage,” said Ryhana Rasidi, LNG analyst at data analytics firm Kpler. “However, we ...

U.S. energy firms this week cut the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating for a third week in a row, energy services firm Baker Hughes BKR.O said in its closely followed report on Friday. The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, fell by two to 603 in the week to May 10, the lowest since January 2022. Baker Hughes said that puts the total rig count down 128, or 18% below this time last year. Baker Hughes said oil rigs fell three to ...

Northwest European diesel barge differentials eased after the front month futures contract expired, while regional inventories rose. In the Northwest European diesel barge window, 4,750 metric tons of diesel barges weretraded. Glencore sold to Vitol and Total. Deliveries of low-sulphur gasoil for May fell to 1,248 lots, or 124,800 tonnes, at expiry, down from 2,710 lots in April, InterContinental Exchange (ICE) data showed on Friday. The contract expired at $757.50 a tonne, down from $825.75 a tonne at the April expiry. Profit margins for diesel are slumping as new refineries ...

Northwest European gasoline refining margins rose by 37 cents to around $21.11 a barrel on Friday, but at that level registered around an 8.5% drop on the week. A total of 10,000 metric tons of Eurobob E5 traded on Friday in the Argus window, with BP selling to Varo and Gunvor. A further 1,000 ton barge traded in the Platts window, which BP sold to Varo. Eurobob E10 liquidity was slightly lower at 8,000 metric tons traded on Friday, with Phillips 66 and Shell selling to TotalEnergies and Mabanaft. A ...

U.S. gas inventories are near record highs for this time of year after exceptionally mild temperatures linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon slashed gas and electricity consumption for heating during the winter of 2023/24. But ultra-low prices are maximising gas combustion by power generators and forcing producers to cut back drilling, which should ensure the surplus is eliminated before the end of winter 2024/25. Working gas inventories amounted to 2,484 billion cubic feet (bcf) on April 26, the highest for that time of year since 2016 and before that ...

Asia’s middle distillates markets recorded significant gains week-on-week for the first time in three months, with June spot discussions taking off despite cautious outlook and thin spot liquidity through the week. At least two refiners sought to sell their spot June cargoes since early week, with talks of South Korea oil majors also likely to start offering soon as well. China oil majors however may have a bit more volume flexibility for their May and June cargoes given the issuance of a fresh batch of export quotas, further adding to ...

Dutch and British wholesale gas prices held steady on Friday morning as warmer temperatures and expectations of stronger renewable power output next week curb demand. The benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub edged up 0.30 euro at 31.25 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) by 0901 GMT, while the July contract was 0.35 euro higher at 31.50 euros/MWh, according to LSEG data. In the British market, the within-day price was up 0.05 pence at 74.74 pence per therm. Analysts at LSEG said temperatures in Northwest Europe were set to ...

Pipeline operator Enbridge beat market estimates for first-quarter profit on Friday, as demand remained strong amid an uptick in oil production across North America. Improvements in technology have driven rapid growth in U.S. oil production over the past few years, benefiting pipelineoperators such as Enbridge. The company recordedstrong demand for itsFlanagan South Pipeline and the Enbridge Ingleside Energy Center, the largest crude oil storage and export terminal by volume in the United States. Its U.S.-listed shares rose 1.1% premarket. Adjusted core profit at its liquids pipelines segment rose to C$2.46 ...