보기: Market Movers Europe, Jan 17-21: Ukraine border tensions spike commodity price fears

In this week's highlights, fears of Russian invasion of Ukraine shake oil, gas and power markets; the EU's extended consultation decision on nuclear to now close on Friday, and major mining companies to release production reports.

But first, in oil, prices have been on the rise due to the easing of omicron concerns and worries about spare capacity among OPEC+ producers. Geopolitics is also a significant factor, amid concerns over Russia's military build-up near Ukraine and fears of invasion, as well as uncertainty over a potential deal on easing sanctions against Iran. Ukraine is top of the agenda following seemingly unproductive talks between Moscow and Washington over the country's security orientation and possible eventual NATO membership. Ukraine remains a vital supply route for Russian oil and gas supplies to Europe, with the current tensions linked to Gazprom's Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, and rocketing gas prices across Europe. Meanwhile, the market will be closely watching the monthly oil market reports expected this week, from OPEC and the International Energy Agency, on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

And we continue to monitor mobility levels and the strength of the pandemic recovery as European travel restrictions start to ease, providing support to the beleaguered aviation sector. Passenger capacity globally in 2021 was 35% below pre-pandemic 2019 levels, according to data provider OAG.

Regarding power generation fuels, the potential conflict in Ukraine continues to weigh on gas markets as Russian troops on the border were seen carrying out drills Jan. 14.

As you can see in this chart, gas prices had fallen heavily in the early days of the new year, but rose late last week as fears of imminent action resurfaced.

European gas stocks were last estimated by Gas Infrastructure Europe at 551 terawatt hours January 12, some 183 terawatt hours lower year on year, with European gas tanks standing at less than half full. Ukraine is a major transit route for Russian gas to Europe with flows meeting around 14% of EU gas demand.

The European Commission's consultation on including nuclear and gas in its sustainable investment taxonomy closes on Friday after the EC extended it by a week. A second delegated act paves the way for investors to access finance for qualifying projects. A decision on nuclear has been repeatedly delayed because of disagreements between France and Germany, while the EC's conditions relating to gas plants raise major barriers to development, according to project proponents.

And that takes us to our question of the week: Will the inclusion of gas and nuclear as sustainable investments change the prospects for the Fit for 55 climate package? Tweet us your thoughts using the hashtag #PlattsMM.

Finally, in metals, we are once again moving into results season, with two major miners due to release their quarterly results this week.

Rio Tinto will kick off the week with its Q4 and full year production report. The miner shipped 235.6 million metric tonnes of iron ore from its Pilbara operations in Western Australia in the nine months to September 2021 and in October lowered its iron ore sales guidance for 2021 to 320 million-325 million metric tonnes, down from the previous guidance of 325 million-340 million metric tonnes.

BHP will follow with its quarterly production report on Tuesday, January 18. BHP, whose year runs from July to June, produced 376,500 metric tonnes of copper across its Australian, Chilean, and Peruvian assets in the September 2021 quarter, down 9% year on year.

Russian mining and steel company NLMK will release its results on January 20.

The Platts Atlas of Energy Transition is your map to the sustainable commodity markets of the future. You can explore the Atlas by visiting the address displayed on your screen. Thanks for kicking off your Monday with us and have a great week ahead!