Crude oil prices notched up yet more gains yesterday on US data showing surprising large crude inventory drawdowns at the end of July. WTI briefly surpassed USD 43/barrel before paring back to USD 42.19/barrel, a gain of 1.2%. Brent rose 1.7% to hit USD 45.17/barrel.
Both represent highs not seen since the beginning of March 2020, when Saudi Arabia and Russia embarked on a brief price war that cratered prices and even sent WTI into negative territory. A Reuters analyst yesterday quoted a senior Gulf OPEC source as saying Saudi deliberately slowed crude exports to the US to lower crude stocks “as a gentle reminder” of the kingdom’s market power.
UK and continental European gas hubs paused for breath yesterday after an intense rally that nearly doubled the price of front-month contracts in just three trading sessions. UK NBP slowed its ascent to 0.8% to close at USD 2.62/MMBtu while Dutch TTF fell 0.5%, but thanks to foreign exchange effects this registered as a 0.6% rise to USD 2.55/MMBtu.
US gas benchmark Henry Hub was virtually unchanged, and CME’s JKM futures were gained 1.7% to close at USD 2.73/MMBtu.
The European carbon price could not sustain Tuesday’s gains into yesterday’s session, as the month-ahead futures contract for ETS carbon allowances (EUAs) fell 0.2% to close at EUR 26.71/tonne.
Front-month futures and indexes at last close with day-on-day changes (click to enlarge):
Time references based on London GMT. Brent, WTI, NBP, TTF and EU CO2 data from ICE. Henry Hub, JKM and API2 data from CME. Prices in USD/MMBtu based on exchange rates at last market close. All monetary values rounded to nearest whole cent/penny. Text and graphic copyright © Gas Strategies, all rights reserved.
Subscription Benefits
Our three titles – LNG Business Review, Gas Matters and Gas Matters Today – tackle the biggest questions on global developments and major industry trends through a mixture of news, profiles and analysis.
LNG Business Review
LNG Business Review seeks to discover new truths about today’s LNG industry. It strives to widen market players’ scope of reference by actively engaging with events, offering new perspectives while challenging existing ones, and never shying away from being a platform for debate.
Gas Matters
Gas Matters digs deep into the stories of today, keeping the challenges of tomorrow in its sights. Weekly features and interviews, informed by unrivalled in-house expertise, offer a fresh perspective on events as well as thoughtful, intelligent analysis that dares to challenge the status quo.
Gas Matters Today
Gas Matters Today cuts through the bluster of online news and views to offer trustworthy, informed perspectives on major events shaping the gas and LNG industries. This daily news service provides unparalleled insight by drawing on the collective knowledge of in-house reporters, specialist contributors and extensive archive to go beyond the headlines, making it essential reading for gas industry professionals.
Related Stories
-
05Aug2020Pricewatch | 5 Aug 2020 | Gas Matters Today
04Aug2020Pricewatch | 4 Aug 2020 | Gas Matters Today
03Aug2020Pricewatch | 3 Aug 2020 | Gas Matters Today