The highlights this week: US President Donald Trump calls for revision of the Iran nuclear deal, LNG prices ride high on winter demand season, and domestic coal prices in China reach levels that may trigger government intervention.
In oil markets, prices of front month ICE Brent Futures closed just below a three-year high near the $70/b mark Friday. Global oil demand is seen as strong, especially in China and Europe, in line with robust global economic growth.
Some market participants expect oil prices to rise further this week due to a host of production issues in key OPEC countries such as Venezuela, Iraq, Iran and Libya.
US President Donald Trump last Friday decided to again waive sanctions against Iran, although not without a warning. Trump wants major revisions to the nuclear deal and a separate agreement within 120 days or the US will withdraw.
Senior analyst Sammy Six talks about these and other factors that could drive commodity prices this week.
Join our conversations on Twitter - use #PlattsMM and connect with us.
Video Transcript
The highlights this week: US President Donald Trump calls for revision of the Iran nuclear deal, LNG prices ride high on winter demand season, and domestic coal prices in China reach levels that may trigger government intervention.
In oil markets, prices of front month ICE Brent Futures closed just below a three-year high near the $70/b mark Friday. Global oil demand is seen as strong, especially in China and Europe, in line with robust global economic growth.
Some market participants expect oil prices to rise further this week due to a host of production issues in key OPEC countries such as Venezuela, Iraq, Iran and Libya.
US President Donald Trump last Friday decided to again waive sanctions against Iran, although not without a warning. Trump wants major revisions to the nuclear deal and a separate agreement within 120 days or the US will withdraw.
Iran, one of the world’s largest oil producers, has recently seen an eruption of popular protests escalate into violence, including in its main oil producing province of Khuzestan.
Do you think the protests in Iran will impact the country’s oil industry? And if yes, which part of the value chain is most likely to be hit most severely? We look forward exchanging ideas on Twitter with the hashtag #PlattsMM.
Still on oil, OPEC and the International Energy Agency will be releasing their first oil market reports of the year this week. So stay tuned on Platts.com for our news and analysis once the numbers are out.
In LNG markets, persistent bullishness in the winter trading market has seen spot prices rallying since September with no signs of weakening. Drivers for further upside this week, apart from the bull run in oil prices, are supply concerns over production issues at several major LNG projects, and another wave of North Asian winter buying. With the winter trading cycle ending in one week’s time, could this be the last hurrah?
In thermal coal, market watchers in Asia are keeping a close eye on domestic Chinese spot prices as they approach the critical Yuan 750/mt mark. Last times these price levels were reached, in October 2017 and November 2016, it triggered market interventions by the Chinese government, such as loosening production controls or restricting imports.
That’s all from us today! Remember to join our conversations on Twitter with the hashtag #PlattsMM.
Thanks for kicking off your Monday with us and have a great week ahead!