As the Ukraine gas transit agreement nears its expiry, the Russian president meets with Slovak Prime Minister
Pavel Zarubin, a Russian TV presenter, said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Slovak Premier Robert Fico met in the Kremlin Sunday. The meeting took place as a contract for Russian gas transiting through Ukraine is nearing its expiration date. Fico criticised the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy for refusing a contract extension that expires in the next year. In a video that was posted by Zarubin on Telegram, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the discussion would be centered on the gas transit and current international situation. He stated that the Kremlin Meeting was arranged "a couple of days ago".
SOCAR sources: Russia and Ukraine cannot agree on gas deal mediated by Azerbaijan
Azeri SOCAR, a leading energy company in Azerbaijan, said on Friday that Moscow and Kyiv failed to reach an agreement on the deal brokered by Azerbaijan for Russian gas to be exported to Europe via Ukraine. Azerbaijan was asked by the European Union and Ukraine to facilitate talks with Russia regarding a gas-transit deal due to expire this year. On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that there was no chance of a new agreement with Kyiv for the transit of Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine. Ukraine, which has been fighting Russia's invasion in Europe since February 2022 said that it would not renew a contract…
Putin is clear: there will be no Ukraine Gas Transit Deal
Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, said that it is now clear that no new gas transit agreement will be signed with Kyiv for Russian gas to be sent through Ukraine to Europe. However, Russia will survive. As the EU attempts to reduce its dependency on Moscow, Russia has lost nearly all its European clients. Before the Ukraine War, Russia was Europe's largest single natural gas supplier. The Nord Stream gas pipeline, which was destroyed in 2022, cut off a major artery of Russian gas exports. Now one of the last main Russian gas routes…
Treasury: US sanctions against North Korea and Russia include new sanctions
New sanctions imposed by the United States on Monday targeted Pyongyang’s financial activities as well as its military support for Moscow, according to the Treasury Department. The sanctions list North Korean generals, banks and officials, as well as Russian oil companies. They are the latest U.S. measures aimed at disrupting North Korea’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine. Treasury Department released a statement naming Golden Triangle Bank and Korea Mandal Credit Bank as the North Korean banks that were targeted. In recent years, Pyongyang has increased its diplomatic and economic ties with Moscow.
Gazprom says that high interest rates are a concern for oil service firms
Alexander Dyukov said that the high interest rates in the oil industry could have a negative impact on firms providing support services. This raised "serious concern".According to a recent poll, the Russian central bank will likely increase its key rate this week by 200 basis points, to 23%, due to the high inflation caused by a weaker ruble.Dyukov told reporters that his company is strong enough to withstand high borrowing costs, and plans to increase investments in the next year."As far as the partner companies are concerned, such as oil services, they do not all have a margin of safety." Dyukov stated that this raises grave concerns.
Moldova declares a state of emergency when the risk of Russian gas being cut off looms
The Moldovan parliament voted on Friday morning to declare a state of national emergency lasting 60 days, starting Dec. 16, due to the expected interruption of Russian gas supply on Jan. After Prime Minister Dorin Recean's request for approval, 56 members of the 101-seat chamber approved the measure just after midnight. He said that the vote was to stop "gas blackmail" by Moscow. Declaring an emergency allows the government respond quickly and reduce energy exports. Ukraine has announced that it will not be extending its transit contract with Russian Gas giant Gazprom. The contract expires December 31.
Russia extends deadline for Exxon to sell Sakhalin-1 stake to 2026 in a decree
On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree extending by one year the period of sale for Exxon’s share in Russia’s Sakhalin-1 gas and oil project until January 1, 2026. Exxon will take a $4.6 billion charge in 2022 for abandoning its development on the Pacific Island of Sakhalin. This was the company's largest investment in Russia after the beginning of what Moscow refers to as a special military operations in Ukraine. Exxon Mobil Corp owned a 30% stake as operator in Sakhalin-1. It was partnered by Rosneft of Russia, ONGC Videsh from India, and SODECO of Japan. Exxon didn't immediately respond to a comment request.
Russia's Oil Tsar: Trump's actions to defend US Producers are 'fitting.'
Igor Sechin is the president of Rosneft - Russia's biggest oil producer. He said on Saturday that he agreed with Donald Trump's plans to protect domestic energy producers. He said at a Qatar conference that Trump's election campaign promises included "fitting" measures to protect domestic energy producers, the market, and other economic factors. Some Russians are cautiously optimistic about Trump's return on Jan. 20, while others believe that another U.S. President will not make much of a difference. Under the Joe Biden Administration, Russia's relations with the United States plummeted to a post Cold War low on a number issues, including conflict in Ukraine.
Gazprombank's Gazprombank order has led to a rouble rally and a reduction in the gas market
The rouble and European gas prices both fell on Friday. This was due to market speculation that Moscow's efforts to assist Gazprombank in bypassing U.S. sanctions would keep Russian gas exports flowing. The decree was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. It stated that the state-owned Gazprombank will only accept roubles for payment of gas exports. The scheme, which was introduced in March 20,22, also prohibited the conversion of foreign currencies into roubles to pay for gas at the bank. It also allowed other parties or banks to sell the roubles at that time. The updated scheme is not clear. European gas buyers have not yet commented.
Putin's decree: Gas prices to fall on a milder outlook
The Dutch and British wholesale prices of gas fell slightly on Friday morning, due to a more milder forecast for the weather since mid-December. Also, Russian President Vladimir Putin canceled a requirement that gas buyers convert their roubles. The benchmark contract for the Dutch TTF hub, the front-month contract, was down by 0.27 euros at 46.26 euro per megawatt (MWh) at 0919 GMT. Meanwhile the contract for February was 0.31 euros lower at 46.24 euro/MWh. LSEG data shows that although colder weather will be expected in North-West Europe next week, recent forecasts indicate temperatures above normal for the second and first halves of December.
Sechin, Rosneft's boss, says that targets and costs are a hindrance to the appeal of green energy.
Igor Sechin is a well-known sceptic of green energy and the boss of Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft. He believes that investors are losing interest in clean energy because of elusive targets, high cost and lack of funding. Russia, the world's largest producer of oil, natural gas and coal, as well as China, have set targets to achieve carbon neutrality in 2060. This is 10 years later than other developed countries. The Russian president Vladimir Putin criticised the green movements in Europe for exploiting people's fears over climate change. He also questioned Germany's commitment towards phasing-out coal.
Sechin, Rosneft CEO, says that OPEC+ cuts in output made the US the top energy exporter.
Igor Sechin, head of Russia's biggest oil producer Rosneft, said that the OPEC+'s decision to reduce oil production in 2016 and 2020 has helped the U.S. shale sector and made it a major global energy exporter. Sechin said, at a forum held in the United Arab Emirates that Russia and its partners had made the most significant contributions to stabilising the global energy markets in the last 10 years. Sechin, a long-time ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, has expressed scepticism in the past about Russia's collaboration with OPEC. He said that the United States benefited the most from the 2016 deal.
Sources: Austria's 50-year relationship with Gazprom is ended by the gas seizure
Five sources said that the Austrian group's seizure and payment of Russian gas to cover an arbitration award was what triggered the end of more than 50 years gas flow from Russian state energy company Gazprom to OMV this month. OMV is one of the last remaining gas buyers in Europe, after Gazprom lost most of its European customers in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia was Europe’s largest natural gas supplier before the war. OMV announced on Nov. 13, that it had won a German arbitration case against Gazprom in Germany for 230 millions euros ($239million) in relation to irregular supplies to the German unit.
Palm oil drops 8% in a week, the worst drop for 19 months.
Malaysian palm futures fell on Friday, their biggest weekly drop in over a year. Weak soybean oil prices and concerns about demand weighed them down. At the close, the benchmark palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia's Derivatives exchange for February delivery fell 132 ringgit or 2.77% to 4,640 Ringgit ($1,039.19). This is the second weekly decline in a row and the biggest weekly drop since April 2023. David Ng, a proprietary trading at Kuala Lumpur's Iceberg X Sdn. Bhd., said that the lower opening of crude palm oil futures was due to the weakening prices of soybean oil and concern about a weaker demand for the next few weeks.
Oil Steadies as Sverdrup Restart eases Geopolitical Jitters
Oil prices traded steady on Tuesday as Norway's Johan Sverdrup oilfield restarted production and there were reports of Iran offering to cap its uranium stockpile, factors that offset investor concerns about escalation of the Russia-Ukraine war.Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell 0.1%, or 7 cents, to $73.23 per barrel by 1:30 p.m. EST (1830 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures CLc1 gained 0.1%, or 5 cents, to $69.21 per barrel.Equinor resumed partial production from the Johan Sverdrup field in the North Sea, Western Europe's largest oilfield…
Putin told Scholz that Russia was willing to explore energy cooperation.
In their first telephone conversation since December 20,22, President Vladimir Putin said to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that Russia would be willing to consider energy deals with Berlin if it was interested. The report said that the two men exchanged "detailed views and opinions" about Ukraine, and that Putin reiterated the position he's been taking for months: that any peace agreement must be in line with Moscow's interests and should be based on the "new territorial reality" of the fact that Russian forces control a fifth the country.
Rosneft denies reports that 'evil Sechin’ plans to takeover Russian oil giants
Rosneft is Russia's largest oil company. It denied any reports that it was planning to take over a large chunk of the Russian Oil Sector. They said these reports were an attempt to portray its CEO, Igor Sechin as a bad influence. The Wall Street Journal reported on Russia's plans to merge Rosneft with Gazprom, Lukoil and Lukoil. This would result in one of the most powerful oil companies in the world. Rosneft released a statement regarding the reports, which it called "false-flags". The company said that the reports portrayed CEO Sechin as the "Evil Sechin", and falsely implied "Igor Sechin’s insidious intents".
WSJ reports that Russia is exploring a plan to merge Rosneft, a Gazprom subsidiary, and Lukoil.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Russia is working on plans to merge Rosneft oil, a state-backed company, with Gazprom, creating the second-largest crude oil producer in the world. The newspaper reported that executives and government officials have been in talks over the last few months. A deal could or might not be reached, it said, citing unidentified sources familiar with the issue. The report said that a combination of Rosneft with Gazprom Neft - a subsidiary owned by Gazprom and Lukoil - would rank second only to Saudi Arabia's Aramco, and could pump nearly three times the output of U.S. oil company Exxon.
Commodities Weigh Trump Win, Tariff Threats
Commodities reacted with trepidation to the election of Donald Trump to a second term as U.S. President, with most losing ground over fears the global economy will be hit by a new tariff war.The downbeat reaction was in stark contrast to U.S. equities, which surged to record highs amid optimism that Trump's agenda of lower taxes will boost growth, at least in the United States.The contrasting response to Trump's victory over Democrat nominee and now outgoing U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris showed exactly why the likely impacts of Trump's…
Commodities fall amid increased risks of Trump's second-term: Russell
Commodities have reacted to Donald Trump's election to a second U.S. term with fear, and most are losing ground due to fears that a new trade war will hit the global economy. The negative reaction contrasted sharply with the record-breaking performance of U.S. stocks, which rose to new highs amid optimism about Trump's tax cut agenda, at least for the United States. The contrasting reaction to Trump's win over Democrat nominee, and now departing U.S. vice president Kamala Harris, showed why it is difficult to predict the impact of Trump's return as the White House. Take crude oil as an example.
