TASS reports that Russia's top oil executive said Asian oil demand is still growing.
Alexander Dyukov of Russian oil giant Gazprom said that the demand for crude oil in Asia continues to increase, while China, among other countries, has been replenishing its crude stocks, according to TASS. OPEC+ agreed this month to increase oil production in October, as Saudi Arabia tries to regain its market share. However, the group will slow down the rate of increases compared to previous months because of an expected weakening in global demand. Dyukov, head of Russia's four largest oil producers, nevertheless said that demand is still strong. The global oil consumption increases in summer.
Shell Signs 10-year Gas Supply Deal with MVM CEEnergy
Oil and gas major Shell signed a 10-year natural gas deal with Hungary's MVM CEEnergy on Tuesday, in a move designed to strengthen its presence in central and eastern Europe.Shell, the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) trader, said it would sell around 200 million cubic metres (mcm) of natural gas a year to the Hungarian natural gas wholesaler MVM CEEnergy, beginning in January 2026.MVM Group receives a large amount of its gas from Russia, unlike energy providers in most European countries following…
Minister: Shell to sign new gas contract with Hungary
The Hungarian foreign minister announced on Tuesday that, later that day, he will sign a long-term contract for the purchase of gas with Shell. This would be "the largest volume and longest Western supply contract in history". In his statement, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto didn't provide any additional details. Hungary has an agreement with Russia for long-term supply of gas to cover the majority of its needs. Szijjarto stated that he would announce the signing of an extended contract with Shell later today, but did not reveal the date or volume.
Russian ESPO Crude Prices Remain Steady From Chinese Demand
Russian ESPO Blend crude prices held steady for October-loading cargoes as robust demand from China offset growing pressure from Western sanctions and ample supply, traders said on Monday.Cargoes loading from the Far Eastern port of Kozmino in October were sold at a premium of around $2 per barrel to ICE Brent on a delivery basis to Chinese ports, little changed from September levels, they said.Intense Ukrainian drone strikes have hit several major Russian oil refineries in recent weeks, leading to less feedstock…
Putin: Gas pipeline from China to Russia will benefit both countries, calculate price using market formula
The Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on Friday that Power of Siberia 2 was a "mutually-beneficial project". He also said the price of gas would be determined by a formula similar to those used to supply gas to Europe. Russia proposed this route years ago. However, the plan is now more urgent as Beijing has been identified as the best alternative to Europe. Europe wants to reduce its dependence on Russian energy due to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russia and China signed an agreement to build the pipeline on the occasion of Putin's China visit this week.
Prices for Europe GAS are mixed due to stronger winds and lower Norwegian flows
The Dutch and British wholesale gas price were mixed Tuesday morning, due to higher wind production and lower Norwegian supply. LSEG data shows that the benchmark Dutch front-month contract for the TTF hub at 0831 GMT was up 0.59 euro at 32.25 Euro per megawatt hour. The contract for the day-ahead has dropped by 0.05 euros to 31.75 Euro/MWh. The British gas front-month contract price increased by 0.35 pence to 79.55 cents per therm. However, the day-ahead was down 0.25 cents at 79.00 cents per therm. Yuriy Onieshkiv…
Orlen's Q2 profits jump as upstream gains and write-downs offset each other
Orlen, a Polish energy company, reported on Thursday a nearly 74% increase in its second quarter profit. A strong performance upstream helped to offset the effects of lower refining and asset writedowns. EBITDA LIFO (core profit adjusted for changes to the value of oil inventories) reached $7.72 billion ($2.12 billion), and this was achieved despite 1.49 billion in writedowns mainly in upstream and downstream. Oil refiners' upstream business has reversed a massive year-ago loss, thanks to a windfall tax imposed by the government in order to fund energy prices freezes.
Russian energy exports disrupted since the start of Ukraine War
One of the bargaining chips that Donald Trump will use to convince Vladimir Putin to progress towards a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine when he meets him on Friday is to reduce U.S. restrictions on Russia's exports and energy industry. Trump has also warned of tougher sanctions in the event that there is not progress. See how the sanctions have affected Russian energy exports. Before the war, Russia was Europe's largest natural gas supplier. The majority of gas was transported via four pipeline routes, including Nord Stream, which runs under the Baltic Sea; the Yamal Line, which crosses Poland; transit via Ukraine and Turkstream.
Italy and Algeria strengthen their cooperation through new business and security deals
An intergovernmental meeting held in Rome on Tuesday saw Italy and Algeria agree to cooperate in the fight against terrorism and migration, and companies sign deals in energy and telecommunications sectors. After a visit to Algiers in March by Antonio Tajani, the Italian Foreign Minister Giorgia Melons met with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. Meloni’s government stated that Algeria was Rome’s top trading partner in Africa with a trade value of almost 14 billion euro ($16,4 billion), while Italian investments totalled 8.5 billion euro. "I am confident in the results of this summit.
Equinor Q2 Core Profit drops as expected due to lower oil prices
Equinor reported on Wednesday that its second-quarter profits fell by 13% compared to a year ago, as expected, due to the decline in oil prices, which outweighed an increase in gas. Equinor's poll of 21 analysts predicted that the adjusted earnings for April-June would be $6.54 billion, down from $7.48 billion in the previous year. Equinor has maintained its projections that oil and gas production will increase by 4% in this year's compared to the previous year. It also kept its forecast of capital expenditures for 2025 at $13 billion.
Diplomats claim that the EU has again failed to approve new sanctions against Russia
Four EU diplomats said that the European Union had failed to approve new sanctions against Russia for the second time on Wednesday, as Slovakia sought concessions regarding gas supplies. Diplomats who were present at the meeting said that Slovakia had vetoed approval of the sanction during the meeting. Malta was also mentioned by two diplomats. The Slovakian government said that it would not approve sanctions until it received more assurances from the EU about the safety of the country in the event of a separate plan to phase-out Russian gas by 2027.
Slovakia wants to reach an agreement on the end of Russian gas supply by Tuesday
Robert Fico, Slovakia's Prime Minister, said that the country hoped to reach an agreement by Tuesday with the European Commission and EU partner countries on guarantees it would not be affected by the end of Russian supplies as well as a new package of sanctions against Russia. Slovakia has blocked the EU's 18th sanction package because it disagrees with a different Commission proposal that would end all Russian gas imports from 2028. Slovakia claims this could lead to shortages, an increase in transit fees and prices, as well as damage claims by Russian supplier Gazprom.
Gazprom and CNPC discuss future Russian Gas Supplies to China
Gazprom reported that the heads of Russia's Gazprom, and China's CNPC, discussed future Russian gas deliveries to China in Beijing during their talks. Moscow is seeking stronger ties with China, which is the world's largest energy consumer. Since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, Russia, which holds the world's largest reserves of gas, has diverted oil from Europe to India, and China. Gleichzeitig, the diversification of Russian pipeline natural gas imported from the European Union is slow. The Power of Siberia Pipeline began exporting gas to China at the end of 2019.
SEFE signs 3-year contract with ADNOC for LNG supply
SEFE, a German company, has signed a deal with ADNOC of the United Arab Emirates for liquefied gas. Deliveries are expected to start in 2025. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, SEFE (Securing Energy for Europe), a state-owned company, seeks long-term supply agreements after losing most its Russian pipeline gas supplies in 2022. The agreement, valued at $400 million, is based on the Das Island liquefaction plant of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). Both companies said that they wanted to strengthen their long-term relationship with energy partners.
EBRD lends Moldova 400 million euros for energy security
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development announced on Tuesday a 400 million euro loan ($468 million) to the state-owned energy company Energocom of Moldova for purchasing gas and electricity on European markets in order to increase energy security for the country. This follows the decision of Russian energy giant Gazprom, which halted gas deliveries to Moldova in this year due to unpaid debt. The new package consists a 300 million euro senior working capital loan to Energocom for energy purchases, and 100 millions euros of guarantees that will be issued by the EBRD to eligible EU suppliers.
Greece's DEPA signs out-of-court agreement with Gazprom on gas prices
DEPA Commercial, the Greek gas supplier, announced on Tuesday that it had reached an agreement outside of court in its dispute with Gazprom regarding gas prices. DEPA signed with Gazprom a contract in January 2022 for 2 billion cubic meters of gas annually through 2026. The price was 80% index to the Dutch TTF benchmark price, with the remaining 20% index to oil prices. DEPA, however, struggled to sell gas in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The drop in Russian pipeline deliveries also contributed to a rise in European gas prices. Eventually DEPA was unable accept its minimum annual quantities.
Gazprom wins partial gas price war, but Orlen could owe up to $290 million
Orlen, a Polish oil and gas firm, could be hit with a bill for almost $300 million after deciding that Gazprom has the right to charge higher prices retroactively on gas supplied to Poland. Orlen is a brand of Orlen. The Polish gas monopoly PGNiG, which will be in 2022 and is involved in several disputes with Gazprom at an arbitration tribunal in Stockholm regarding the prices Poland paid for Russian Gas from 2017 to 2020. Gazprom has been involved in numerous legal disputes with European companies. According to calculations, the total claims from these companies is at least 20 billion euros (17 billion dollars).
Russian LNG exports dropped 4.4% year-on-year in January to June, according to data
LSEG's preliminary data on Wednesday showed that Russia's liquefied gas exports in the first six months of this year fell by 4.4% compared to a year ago, reaching 15.2 million metric tonnes. This was despite international sanctions over Ukraine. The United States, in particular, has imposed sanctions against companies and vessels connected to Russia's Arctic LNG 2 plant due to the conflict in Ukraine. This effectively freezes the project as Moscow is unable find buyers. U.S. president Donald Trump said that he wanted the European Union (EU) to buy more U.S. LNG, and he would make it more available.
Source: Russian government talks tax relief for Gazprom
A government source revealed on Monday that the Russian government is considering tax reliefs for the energy giant Gazprom. These could be offset by higher taxes on gas producers in general. Novatek and Rosneft, two other major gas producers in Russia, are also listed. Moscow must balance the need for increased military spending in the face of the conflict in Ukraine, with the rising budget deficit as well as providing adequate support to Gazprom which has seen its lucrative sales into Europe fall. Gazprom lost almost $7 billion dollars in 2023. This was its first loss in over 20 years.
EU envoys are expecting to resolve the blockage of new Russia sanctions by this week
Diplomats from the European Union said that they expected to reach an agreement during a summit of the EU this week regarding an 18th package against Russia. Slovakia and Hungary use it as a bargaining tool for concessions about Russian energy. The European Commission proposed the package to encourage Russia to negotiate with Ukraine a ceasefire after EU leaders demanded "massive sanction" in May. The package targets Russia's energy revenue by naming banks and hitting the shadow tanker fleet. Hungary and Slovakia…