Spain Calls On Importers Not To Sign New LNG Deals With Russia
by Charles Kennedy
24 Mar 2023 at 7:30am
The Spanish government has urged importers of liquefied natural gas not to sign new deals to purchase Russian LNG as the biggest buyer of Russia?s LNG in Europe looks to reduce dependence on Moscow?s gas, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg on Friday. The government of Spain, via Deputy Prime Minister Teresa Ribera who is responsible for the country?s energy policy, sent a letter in the middle of March to Naturgy Energy, Repsol, TotalEnergies, Pavilion Energy, Enagás, Met Energy, Enet Energy, Energias de Portugal,?

Biden's SPR Strategy Has Capped Oil Prices
by Michael Kern
24 Mar 2023 at 7:00am
The statement from the U.S. Energy Secretary that it will be difficult to refill the SPR despite oil prices being in the desired range has added downward pressure to oil prices and limited the potential for a rebound.Oilprice Alert: Whether you are new to the oil and gas industry or an energy market veteran, you will regret not signing up for Global Energy Alert. Oilprice.com's premium newsletter provides everything from geopolitical analysis to trading analysis, and all for less than a cup of coffee per week.Friday, March 24th, 2023The?

Traders Cautiously Optimistic After Major Selloff In Crude
by Editorial Dept
24 Mar 2023 at 6:18am
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices fell by 1% on Thursday after U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm informed lawmakers that refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) might take several years. Nonetheless, the market is still higher for the week and in a position to post a potentially bullish closing price reversal bottom. Granholm's remarks raised concerns about a potential oversupply of oil, which was amplified by the Energy Department's plan to release an additional 26 million barrels as part of its congressional mandate.?

Why The Price Of Premium Gasoline Is Rising
by Editorial Dept
24 Mar 2023 at 6:16am
1. China-Russia Relations Continue To Improve- The visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Russia this week highlighted increasing volumes of energy trade between the two countries as the latter was shunned by Europe. - February Chinese customs data shows that China?s crude oil imports from Russia rose to an all-time high of 2.01 million b/d, equivalent to almost 20% of all incoming oil. - Having already risen 42% year-on-year, steadily overtaking second-largest supplier Saudi Arabia, Russian exports into China are set to grow even further?

Fighting Continues In Yemen Despite Saudi-Iran Détente
by Editorial Dept
24 Mar 2023 at 6:12am
Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict The U.S. Fed insists that the financial sector is ?sound and resilient?, despite the banking crises that started with the collapse of two regional U.S. banks, was followed by a share crash and buyout bid for Credit Suisse, and then proceeded to put major pressure on other small U.S. banks. The Fed then raised interest rates 25 basis points on Wednesday, a step back from the earlier string of 75-basis-point hikes. The first agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran after restoring diplomatic ties earlier?

Is It Time To Short This Soaring Solar Stock?
by Editorial Dept
24 Mar 2023 at 6:08am
One of the things I learned early in my trading career was that in that business, admitting and acknowledging mistakes is a good thing. That is so ingrained in me now that I have continued to do that as a writer on markets and trading, even though in that field of work one is expected to do the opposite. Apparently, we are all supposed to pretend that every call we ever made was spot on, but that is neither realistic nor helpful. So, I have no problem saying that last time I wrote about First Solar (FSLR) things didn?t go my way, to say the?

Don't Expect OPEC Or Biden To Boost Oil Prices
by Editorial Dept
24 Mar 2023 at 6:08am
Oil prices have sunk to levels that are leaving traders wondering two things: will OPEC implement further cuts to raise prices, and will the United States finally move to purchase some crude to refill its drained SPR. Traders who have been brutalized by falling prices over the last couple of weeks were likely disappointed this week when they heard Jennifer Granholm?s answer the second of those questions. It will be difficult to refill at WTI $70, Granholm said, adding that it would take years to replenish the SPR. Some traders are still wondering?

U.S. Conducts Airstrikes In Syria In Response To Deadly Drone Attack
by Tsvetana Paraskova
24 Mar 2023 at 5:51am
Late on Thursday, the U.S. conducted airstrikes in eastern Syria against Iran-affiliated groups after a U.S. contractor was killed in an attack with a drone that the U.S. intelligence community assesses to be of Iranian origin. One U.S. contractor was killed, and five U.S. service members and one additional U.S. contractor were wounded after a one-way unmanned aerial vehicle struck a maintenance facility on a Coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria, the Pentagon said.   The intelligence community determined the UAV to be of Iranian?

Oil Prices Crash 4% As European Banking Stocks Slump  
by Tsvetana Paraskova
24 Mar 2023 at 5:41am
Oil prices plunged by 4% early on Friday as the U.S. dollar rallied and banking stocks in Europe crashed in a sign of renewed pressure on the sector. As of 8:08 a.m. EDT on Friday, WTI Crude was down by 3.99% at $67.27, and Brent Crude traded down 3.65% on the day at $73.20. On Thursday, Brent settled at above $75 and WTI at over $70 per barrel. On Friday morning, oil prices had nearly wiped out the gains of this week accumulated on Wednesday and Thursday.   On Friday, oil prices slumped again as the U.S. dollar was rallying, thus making crude?

Pemex Submits Development Plan For Major Offshore Oil Project In Mexico
by Tsvetana Paraskova
24 Mar 2023 at 4:12am
Mexico?s state oil firm Pemex and its partners in the Zama offshore oil discovery submitted on Thursday the development plan for the project that could see its oil production reach levels greater than 10% of Mexico?s current output. Talos Energy, leading a consortium of foreign oil companies, discovered the large Zama oil deposit in 2017. At an estimated 670 million recoverable barrels of oil, the discovery was the largest oil find in Mexico by a private company in decades.   Pemex, however, has said that the Zama deposit?

European Industry Boosts Natural Gas Consumption As Prices Drop
by Tsvetana Paraskova
24 Mar 2023 at 2:41am
As natural gas prices in Europe fell to a 20-month low, industries are switching back to using gas in a tentative sign that European industrial gas demand is rising. The front-month futures at the TTF hub, the benchmark for Europe?s gas trading, slumped earlier this week to below 40 euros ($43.52) per megawatt-hour (MWh), the lowest price since July 2021, as temperatures were rising, wind power generation was strong, LNG supply ample, and gas inventories way above the average for the end of the winter.  The refining industry, where the?

Trading Giant Expects Copper Prices To Hit Record High
by Irina Slav
24 Mar 2023 at 1:57am
Copper prices are likely to hit a record high in the next 12 months, commodity trading major Trafigura has forecast, citing the rebound in China?s economy and short supply. Global inventories of the basic metal, which is essential for wind and solar power installations and for EVs, among many other things, have shrunk to the lowest since 2008, the Financial Times noted in a report on the forecast. If demand from China continues to grow, the market could tip into a shortage, which will push prices much higher. Over the past year or so copper?

Oil Prices Set For Weekly Gain Despite Demand Fears
by Irina Slav
24 Mar 2023 at 1:10am
Despite continued pressure on oil prices, the commodity will likely end the week with a gain. Although crude began Friday trade with a loss, it was modestly up at the time of writing. West Texas Intermediate had recovered to top $70 per barrel at the time of writing and it was set for a weekly gain of more than 4%. On a monthly basis, however, WTI has lost about $3 per barrel. Brent crude also looked set to end the week with an overall gain: the benchmark started the week at around $70 per barrel and has since climbed to over $76 per barrel, although?

Venezuela Halts Nearly All Oil Exports Amid Payment Probe
by Charles Kennedy
23 Mar 2023 at 11:25pm
Crude oil exports from Venezuela have all but dried up as the government investigates oil contracts with a mountain of unpaid oil purchase bills to the tune of $21 billion. According to Reuters, the investigation, which has so far seen at least 20 arrests and the resignation of Venezuela?s oil minister, is now at a stage where invoices for oil sold are being matched with payments made, according to unnamed sources and documents. While this goes on, state-owned PDVSA is exporting almost no oil with just four buyers scheduled to take off from?

Will Brent Break Below $70 This Year?
by Tsvetana Paraskova
23 Mar 2023 at 5:00pm
Brent oil prices briefly slumped to $70 per barrel on Monday as fears of a recession and a wider banking crisis roiled markets and sent speculators fleeing riskier assets.  By Wednesday, Brent Crude had bounced back to $75 a barrel, and WTI Crude had returned to above $70 per barrel.  Yet the 10% slide in oil prices in the past two weeks has had analysts wondering whether $70 was the bottom for oil prices this year. Will banking and economic jitters drive further declines to below $70, or will China?s rebound and the recovery of?