Business leaders, ministers and US officials gather in Cape Town for Africa Oil Week, with hopes for a revival in deepwater drilling likely to be on the agenda.
Total, Statoil and ENI will release their Q3 results later this week, as investors look for progress in the oil sector’s financial recovery.
In petrochemicals, strikes in France could affect production at a number of facilities, while in Vienna, industry representatives will gather for the European Chemical Industry Council's annual meeting.
Meanwhile, in the power market, EU traders will be awaiting developments in the French nuclear industry and EU-ETS carbon prices reached a 22-month high last week.
Finally, Japan's Kobe Steel will come under further pressure as the drama surrounding falsification of inspection certificates for steel, aluminum and copper products escalates.
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Video Transcript
Market Movers Europe, Oct 23-27: African offshore, corporate recovery in focus at oil industry event
With Jack Jordan, Editorial Lead, Bunker News
In this week's highlights: the African oil sector will be in focus at an industry event in Cape Town; French refineries and petrochemical plants may be hit by strikes; and safety concerns in Europe are adding to the pressure on Japan's Kobe Steel.
Business leaders, ministers and officials will gather in Cape Town this week for Africa Oil Week, with hopes for a revival in deepwater drilling among the likely topics of discussion. Keep an eye out for Platts’ coverage of that event.
Later in the week, the corporate earnings season begins. Total, Statoil and Eni will release their third-quarter results, as investors look for progress in the sector’s financial recovery.
And in London, the International Maritime Organization hosts a working group all week to discuss the possibility of limiting the shipping industry's greenhouse gas emissions.
Across the Channel in France, strikes could affect production at a number of petrochemical and refining facilities this week. Last week the CGT union said industrial action scheduled to start today could last indefinitely.
In Vienna, industry representatives will be hard at work Friday at the European Chemical Industry Council's annual meeting. On the agenda this year will be Brexit, sustainability and attempts to rid the world's oceans of plastics.
Back in France, power traders will be awaiting developments in the nuclear industry this week.
This chart shows how French November power prices have dropped from recent highs. This comes after the regulator last week gave the green light for the restart of the first reactor in its review of parts manufactured by the Le Creusot forge. EDF has 20 reactors scheduled to return before the end of November.
And it is not only power prices which will be closely watched this week. Traders will be looking to see if carbon prices under the EU Emissions Trading scheme will hold onto their recent gains. They briefly rose to a 22-month high last week, after EU officials reached an informal agreement on an amendment to protect the system from the effects of a hard Brexit. It remains to be seen whether these high prices can be sustained in the run-up to a November meeting on a wider overhaul of the carbon market after 2020.
And that’s our question for social media this week: Will EU carbon prices remain well supported? Tweet us your thoughts with the hashtag #PlattsMM.
And finally, Europe will continue to deal with the fallout from the admission by Japan's Kobe Steel that it falsified inspection certificates for steel, aluminum and copper products. One result was that the European Aviation Safety Agency last week advised aircraft manufacturers not to use parts supplied by Kobe.
Thanks for kicking off your Monday with us, and have a great week ahead.