Holiday schedule for US economic and other data
The Columbus/Indigenous Peoples Federal Holiday on Monday, October 14, will affect the release of major economic, energy, and commodities reports during the week of Oct. 13. Treasury Department will announce the release date of the Monthly Budget in October. Due to reporting requirements for the end of fiscal year, the September report was delayed. The schedule is below. The times are in EDT/GMT. Certains Treasury announcements may change. Columbus/Indigenous Peoples holiday. Bond markets, Federal Reserve, International Monetary Fund and federal government offices are closed. Stock markets are open. Treasury Dept. Treasury Dept. The U.S.
The price of gasoline in Europe is rising due to concerns about Middle East tensions
Dutch and British wholesale prices of gas edged up on Monday morning due to concerns about the Middle East conflict escalation. Israel is increasing its attacks on Lebanon and Yemen. However, strong storage inventories limited further upside potential. LSEG data show that the benchmark front-month contract for the Dutch TTF Hub was up 0.77 euros at 38.88 Euros per Megawatt Hour (MWh), which is $12.68 mmBtu by 0823 GMT. The contract for November was up by 0.50 euros, at 39.15 Euro/MWh. The front-month contract on the British market was 1,76 pence more expensive, at 39.50 cents per therm.
Japan's LNG stocks are above the 5-year average and buyers want more cargoes
The data showed that the liquefied gas stocks held by Japan's major electric utilities increased 14% from the previous week to 2,09 million tons on Sept. 8. This is above the average five-year figure for this time of year. Rystad Energy's analyst stated that buyers wanted to buy more cargoes in September due to the forecast of temperatures above average until early October, especially for Japan and South Korea. Japan, second largest LNG buyer in the world after China, relies mainly on long-term LNG contracts but also uses the spot market to meet peak demand for LNG during cold and hot weather.
Russell: Asia spot LNG prices fall as demand increases, but prior rally bites back:
Last week, the spot price for liquefied gas (LNG), in Asia, eased amid signs of seasonal demand peaking. The five-month rally has also reduced purchases by price sensitive buyers. The price of LNG spot for delivery to North Asia fell to $13.80 per mmBtu in the week ending Aug. 23. This is a 2.1% drop from the previous week's eight-month high, $14.10. The benchmark price fell for the first time in four weeks. However, it remains 66.3% higher than the lowest price of $8.30/mmBtu that was reached at the start of March. The Asian LNG price has been driven up by heavyweight buyers like China and Japan.
Russell: Asia spot LNG prices fall as demand increases, but prior rally bites back:
Last week, the spot price for liquefied gas (LNG), in Asia, eased amid signs of seasonal demand peaking. The five-month rally has also reduced purchases by price sensitive buyers. The price of LNG spot for delivery to North Asia fell to $13.80 per mmBtu in the week ending Aug. 23. This is a 2.1% drop from the previous week's eight-month high, $14.10. The benchmark price fell for the first time in four weeks. However, it remains 66.3% higher than the lowest price of $8.30/mmBtu that was reached at the start of March. The Asian LNG price…
Investors on Board as U.S. Oil Majors Dismiss Wind and Solar Projects
Top U.S. oil firms are doubling down on drilling, deepening a divide with European rivals on the outlook for renewables, and winning support from big investors who do not expect the stateside companies to invest in wind and solar. Among a dozen U.S. fund managers contacted by Reuters from companies overseeing about $7 trillion in assets, most said they prefer oil firms to generate returns from businesses they know best and give shareholders cash to make their own renewable bets. With oil and gas prices jumping this year, the U.S. oil majors mostly have delivered higher returns and achieved better earnings multiples and dividend yields than rivals…
Asian LNG Prices Steady on Ample Supply despite U.S. Cargo Cancellations
Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices remained steady this week on a continued stream of spot supply even though traders continued to cancel cargoes loading from the United States due to poor economics. The average LNG price for August delivery into northeast Asia was estimated to be about $2.20 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), slightly lower than the previous week, trade sources said. Buyers of LNG are expected to cancel 40 to 45 cargoes for August-loading from the United States due to a slow recovery in Asian gas demand and record-high European gas stocks…
US LNG plays havoc with Dutch Gas, Asian shipping
Dutch gas prices hit 10-year lows this week, reflecting high European inventories swelled by liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, testing levels at which companies that committed to buy U.S. LNG will start making serious losses.Prices for month-ahead Dutch gas have dropped by two-thirds since their peak last September of just under 30 euros per megawatt hour (MWh).On Friday, Dutch gas for July delivery slumped to 8.95 euros per MWh, the lowest since August 2009.The price falls are in part thanks to an influx of U.S. LNG supplies. But customers of Cheniere Energy, which dominates U.S.
Norway Wealth Fund to Drop ConocoPhillips, Hess
Norway's wealth fund will have to divest its holdings in ConocoPhillips and Hess after both U.S. oil companies were added to a list which effectively excludes them from the Nordic country's portfolio.As part of Norway's efforts to shift its $1 trillion "rainy day" fund away from oil, the country's parliament on Wednesday adopted a plan to drop all dedicated oil and gas explorers and producers, as defined by stock market indices provider FTSE Russell, from the fund's benchmark index.ConocoPhillips and Hess were both added to the list of those classified as "exploration and production" this month…
Low U.S. Gas Market Stocks Tempered by Mild El Niño Forecast: Kemp
U.S. natural gas stocks are going into winter at the lowest level for fifteen years despite a slightly faster rate of injections into storage over the summer than in 2016 or 2017.Low inventories have encouraged hedge funds to build their largest position in futures and options for more than eight years and pushed benchmark prices to their highest level for almost nine months.But pressure on stocks and prices is being tempered by the development of El Niño conditions over the Pacific which should lead to a relatively mild winter for much…
Norway's Wealth Fund: Oil Stocks Sale Will Take Years
The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund's proposed multi-billion dollar divestment from oil and gas stocks will take many years to complete, Chief Executive Yngve Slyngstad told reporters on Tuesday. The $1 trillion fund, the world's largest of its kind, proposed on Nov. 17 to drop oil and gas stock from its index, but needs approval from Norwegian authorities to do so. (Reporting by Gwladys Fouche, editing by Terje Solsvik)
US Natural Gas Prices Under Pressure Even as Stocks Tighten
U.S. natural gas stocks continue to tighten, but most traders appear unconcerned, with futures prices for gas delivered this winter close to the lowest levels since the start of the year. Working gas stocks in underground storage were 35 billion cubic feet (bcf) below the five-year average at 3,646 bcf on Oct. 13, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Working stocks have tightened significantly since the middle of March, when they stood almost 400 bcf above the average and the market appeared heavily oversupplied.
US Natural Gas Prices Rise as Winter Stocks Look Tight: Kemp
U.S. natural gas stocks look somewhat tight after low prices this summer worked off the excess stocks that built up in the first half of the year. Current stocks are in line with the five-year seasonal average but that may not be enough given the increase in exports and the number of additional combined-cycle power plants that have become operational in 2017. The last two winters have been exceptionally mild; if this winter proves colder, which is likely simply on the basis of probabilities, inventories could come under pressure. To ration…
U.S. Gas Rebalances as Power Returns to Coal
The U.S. natural gas market has rebalanced with higher prices steadying production while reducing demand from electricity generators and making room for increased exports. Higher prices have averted the stock crunch many analysts feared in 2017 as a result of rising exports and the start up of a large number of new gas-fired combined cycle power plants. During the first six months of 2017, prices for next-month delivery at Henry Hub were almost $1 per million British thermal units or 46 percent higher than in the first half of 2016. Gas…
Hedge Funds Turn Bearish on U.S. NatGas
Hedge funds have turned much more bearish towards U.S. natural gas prices after stocks built much more than expected at the start of the summer cooling season. Hedge funds and other money managers cut their net long position in the two main futures and options contracts linked to Henry Hub prices by 765 billion cubic feet in the week to June 6. Fund managers cut their net long position by a total of 1,349 billion cubic feet over the two weeks since May 23, after boosting positions by 1,721 billion cubic feet over the previous 12 weeks (http://tmsnrt.rs/2rRAYZa).
U.S. Natural Gas Prices Tumble as Coal Surges
U.S. natural gas prices have tumbled by more than 10 percent since late May as hedge funds start to liquidate a near-record bullish position accumulated in the expectation of a tighter market that failed to materialise. Hedge funds and other money managers reduced their combined net long position in the two main futures and options contracts linked to Henry Hub prices by 584 billion cubic feet in the week to May 30. Fund managers reduced their net long position by the largest amount in any one week since November 2016, after raising it by a cumulative 1,721 bcf during the previous 12 weeks.
U.S. Coal Set for 2017/18 Upturn: Kemp
U.S. coal producers can look forward to an increase in production and jobs during 2017/18 as the industry recovers from the depression of 2015/16. The medium-term outlook remains challenging but some of the short-term problems that tipped the industry into crisis over the last two years are abating. Coal production slumped from 1 billion tons in 2014 to just 739 million tons in 2016, according to the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration. The average number of operators and contractors employed at the coal mines (excluding office staff) fell from 111,000 in 2014 to just 78,000 in 2016.
Hedge Funds Build Bullish U.S. Natural Gas Position
Hedge funds are more bullish about U.S. natural gas prices than at any time for almost three years, according to position records published by regulators and exchanges. By April 4, hedge funds and other money managers had amassed a net long position in the two main futures and options contracts linked to U.S. gas prices equivalent to 3,280 billion cubic feet (http://tmsnrt.rs/2nxfzE0). Fund managers had boosted their net long position for five consecutive weeks by a total of 1,082 billion cubic feet, taking it to the highest level since May 2014 (http://tmsnrt.rs/2nZFHU1).
US Coal Set for an Upturn in 2017/18
U.S. coal producers can look forward to an increase in production and jobs during 2017/18 as the industry recovers from the depression of 2015/16. The medium-term outlook remains challenging but some of the short-term problems that tipped the industry into crisis over the last two years are abating. Coal production slumped from 1 billion tons in 2014 to just 739 million tons in 2016, according to the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration. The average number of operators and contractors employed at the coal mines (excluding office staff) fell from 111,000 in 2014 to just 78,000 in 2016.
Deutsche, Morgan Stanley Bullish on European Energy
Two big brokers have given a thumbs up to the European oil & gas sector on attractive valuations. The sector, the second-worst performers in the region so far this year, as stocks were hit by weakness in crude oil prices and have failed to keep up with their subsequent recovery. Oil and gas stocks are down 1.3 percent, compared with a 5.2 percent gain for the broader market. The energy sector, which last year jumped almost 23 percent, a gain second to only mining, was expected to continue its outperformance as one of the beneficiaries of a global reflation trade, which gathered pace after Donald Trump won the U.S. elections.
