Energy Markets

Investors were jittery about the Federal Reserve's annual three-day Jackson Hole Symposium, and gold prices fell under the pressure of a stronger U.S. Dollar. The symposium began on Thursday. Traders were waiting for Fed Chair Jerome Powell to speak on Friday in order to get a hint about the possibility of a rate cut in September. The yields on U.S. Treasury bonds have risen. Oil futures rose, supported by strong demand from the United States and uncertainty about efforts to end war in Ukraine. The U.S. Dollar rose by 0.43% versus a basket other currencies. The MSCI World Equity Index...

Indian Oil and Bharat Oil, India's state run refiners, have purchased Russian oil for delivery in September and October, after the discounts were increased, according to two company officials who are familiar with the matter. Refiners had stopped purchases in July because of smaller discounts, and after Washington criticised India for its purchases Russian oil. Donald Trump has also threatened to levy an additional 25% on Indian goods starting August 27 in order to punish New Delhi for continuing its purchase of Russian oil. The officials stated that the discount for Urals crude, the Russian oil of choice, has increased...

The oil prices were little altered on Wednesday, as investors awaited the next steps of the talks to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sanctions on Russian crude remained in place and there was a possibility of additional restrictions for its buyers. Brent crude futures are at $65.90 per barrel at 0405 GMT, an increase of 11 cents. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for September, which expires on Wednesday, are at $62.40 per barrel, an increase of 5 cents. The more active October contract is at $61.90 per barrel, an increase of 13 cents. Prices fell more than 1% Tuesday, as...

TotalEnergies has begun a 60-day planned overhaul of the small crude distillation units (CDUs), as well as a reformer, and hydrotreaters, at its Port Arthur, Texas refinery that produces 238,000 barrels per day, according to people familiar with plant operation. Sources said that the 35,000 bpd continuous catalyst reformer (CCR), along with three diesel hydrotreaters, with a combined output of 84,000 bpd and a naphtha hydrotreater with a throughput 42,000 bpd and a sulfur unit were closed along with the ACU-2 CDU with its 51,000 bpd vacuum distillation unit-1 (VDU-1), they added. A TotalEnergies representative did not respond to a...

The oil prices increased on Wednesday, as concerns about supply resurfaced. Meanwhile, peace talks to end Russia's invasion in Ukraine will likely take longer. This means that sanctions against Russian crude are still in place and could lead to further restrictions for its buyers. Brent crude futures reached $65.93 per barrel at 0149 GMT. This was an increase of 14 cents or 0.21%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for September, which expire Wednesday, increased 37 cents, or 0.59%, to $62.72 per barrel. The October contract, which was the most active, rose 15 cents to $61.92 per barrel. Prices fell more...

The U.S. administration of President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday a comprehensive plan to sell more than 30 oil and gas leasing rights in the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska's Cook Inlet and the Gulf of Mexico over the next fifteen years. Why it's important The plan is in line with the energy dominance agenda of Trump's administration to increase domestic fossil fuel production. This schedule is a major departure from the former president Joe Biden's administration, which had planned to auction a small number of drilling right auctions in order to combat climate change. KEY QUOTE Interior Secretary Doug Burgum...

Wall Street and European stocks ended Monday flat or slightly lower, ahead of an important central bank meeting later this week which will likely determine the future direction of U.S. rate policy. Investors are also interested in the meeting between President Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a Ukrainian politician. As part of any agreement to end Russia's conflict in Ukraine, the U.S. president said that the United States will help Europe provide security for Ukraine. Both leaders are pushing for a tripartite meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The financial markets have reacted very little to the news of the...

A representative of bondholders in the United States told a U.S. Court on Monday that holders of a Venezuelan defaulted bond had reached an agreement for a preliminarily settlement with Amber Energy. This was part of the raised bid submitted by Elliott Investment Management to buy the parent company of U.S. refiner Citgo Petroleum this month. Recently, the court auctioned shares saw improved bids from hedge funds Elliott and Vitol affiliates. This was despite the officer who oversaw the bidding round recommending a separate $7.4 billion offer by a Toronto-listed miner Gold Reserve subsidiary. Some creditors and bidders believe that...

Pemex, Mexico's national oil company, is preparing for the "big block" overhaul at its 312,500-barrel-per-day (bpd) Deer Park, Texas, refinery to begin in early October, people familiar with plant operations said on Friday. Sources said that the 270,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) DU-2 crude distillation unit (CDU) at the refinery will be closed for the planned 60-day overhaul. Pemex did not respond to a comment request immediately. DU-2 converts crude oil to feedstocks that are used by most of the other refinery units. The sources say that the fluid catalytic unit (FCCU), the hydrocracking unit producing diesel (HCU) (70,000 bpd), and the...

The U.S. Treasury Department announced on Friday stricter rules regarding how solar and wind energy projects qualify for federal tax incentives that will be phased out by President Donald Trump’s new tax law and spending plan over the next two-year period. The new rule requires that utility-scale projects must show continuous and substantial physical work in order to qualify for the 30% tax credit. However, they still have 4 years to claim it. In the past decade, developers of projects were able to "safe-harbor" their projects for four year by incurring only 5% of costs. A document from an agency...

Investors awaited Donald Trump's meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska to discuss Ukraine and U.S. Retail data, which could provide clues about the health of the largest economy on earth. Early trading in Europe saw the MSCI All Country World Index consolidate recent gains. The MSCI All Country World Index was up by 0.2% last at 953.54, which is just below the record of 954.21 that was set on Wednesday. Wall Street Futures are broadly flat. The White House announced that the Trump-Putin summit will be held at 11:00 Alaska time (1900 GMT), despite the uncertainty surrounding the U.S. President's...

Oil prices dropped on Friday, as concerns about fuel demand were heightened by the economic data coming out of the U.S., China and Russia. Brent crude futures dropped 39 cents or 0.58% to $66.45 per barrel at 0750 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude Futures fell 42 cents or 0.66% to $63.54. WTI and Brent are expected to fall 0.5% each for the week. Data released by the Chinese government on Friday revealed that factory output growth had fallen to its lowest level in eight months and retail sales were growing at their slowest rate since December. This weighed on...

Investors braced themselves for three days worth of potentially market-moving information from the Federal Reserve annual symposium in Jackson Hole. The event begins later that day and will feature central bankers from all over the world. Traders are focusing on the Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s Friday speech to assess the likelihood of a rate cut in September. At the opening, both the pan-European STOXX 600 and Germany's DAX indexes were little changed. The FTSE 100 in Britain rose by 0.1% while the CAC 40 in France fell by 0.1%. Michael Brown, Senior Research Strategist at Pepperstone, said: "I am still...

Investors were preparing for three days worth of market-moving information from the Federal Reserve annual symposium at Jackson Hole. The event will begin later that day. The main focus of the traders is on Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s Friday speech as they try to gauge whether a rate cut in September could be imminent. The underlying momentum of equities remained strong, with Australia's benchmark index rising 0.9% and hitting a new record. Other indexes have lost some ground, but are still not too far off their recent highs. The Nikkei index, which reached an all-time high on Tuesday in Japan,...

Kevin Buckland gives us a look at what the future holds for European and global markets. Today, the Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole Symposium is a highly anticipated event for the U.S. central banks. Investors will be listening intently to every word that central bankers around the globe say. Jerome Powell, the Fed's chairman for his final year at this annual meeting, will deliver a speech on Friday. He's likely, like his predecessors to take the opportunity to shape how his tenure will be recorded in history books. This is especially true considering the harsh criticism he received from President Donald...

Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co reported a net loss for the first six months of 2025 due to lower demand in refining products and chemical products. According to the report, Sinopec posted a net loss between January and June of 462.1 millions yuan (64.40million dollars). This compares to a profit of 27.9 millions yuan the previous year. Net sales fell 10.66%, to 33.498 billion Yuan, while sales of chemicals and refining products were down 16.14% and 3.21 %, respectively. The company stated that the market is still challenging with a strong supply and a weak demand. New-energy vehicles are increasing in...

Rae Wee gives us a look at what the future holds for European and global markets. The European markets were set to open gloomy on Wednesday after the Wall Street slump pushed Asian stocks into the red. Technology stocks led the decline. Analysts pointed out that while there was no immediate cause, a number of factors were at play, including doubts about the high valuations of the tech giants and the growing influence of President Donald Trump over the sector. Sources say that U.S. Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick has been looking at the possibility of the government taking equity stakes...

The dollar gained ground on Wednesday ahead of an important meeting of central banks later this week. Oil prices rose after a fall in the previous session. Traders bet on the possibility that talks about a possible deal to end the conflict in Ukraine would ease sanctions against Russian crude oil and boost global supply. Stock futures in Europe, the U.S. and Europe all fell by 0.47%. The EuroStoxx 50 futures fell 0.55%. DAX futures also declined by 0.5%. FTSE Futures slid 0.14%. S&P futures fell 0.2%, while Nasdaq lost 0.34%. This is a continuation of the overnight fall. The...

Wayne Cole gives us a look at what the future holds for European and global markets. When the idea that Putin sent a body double to Alaska sounds plausible, you know we're living in crazy times. It's clear that President Trump is now tweeting Kremlin talking-points about Crimea and Zelenskiy. Putin seems to believe that Ukraine must give up the land that Russia has taken and that it has not been able to gain in three years of war. Zelenskiy, European leaders and others have repeatedly denied this. They will also be at his side when he meets Trump in...

The oil prices fell on Monday, as the U.S. failed to exert further pressure on Russia in order to end the Ukraine conflict by implementing additional measures to disrupt Russian crude exports following the Friday meeting between the presidents of both countries. Brent crude futures fell 26 cents or 0.39% to $65.59 a bar by 0028 GMT, while U.S. West Texas intermediate crude was down 18 cents or 0.29% at $62.62 a bar. The U.S. president Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Alaska and came away more aligned to Moscow regarding the need for a...

The oil markets will open with a muted reaction on Sunday following the meeting between U.S. president Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Trump stated that a full-fledged ceasefire was not his goal for Ukraine, but rather a peace agreement. Trump said that he and Putin agreed to go directly to a settlement, not through a ceasefire as Ukraine, Europe, and the U.S. have demanded. Trump announced that he would not impose tariffs on nations such as China who buy Russian oil after his meeting with Putin. Trump has threatened to impose sanctions against Moscow as well...

A top official of the Chinese nickel producer Tsingshan Holding Group said that it plans to invest $800,000,000 in its steel factory in central Zimbabwe via its unit Dinson Iron and Steel Company. This was revealed during a company media tour held on Friday. Tsingshan is one of the largest nickel producers in the world and has made substantial investments in Zimbabwe. Tsingshan has also invested in ferrochrome mining, coking coal, and lithium mining in Zimbabwe. Wilfred Motti, project director at the company, said that the funds will be used to build a new blast furnace to increase the capacity...

Gregor Stuart Hunter gives us a look at what the European and global stock markets will be like today. Did you think the U.S. market would be stopped by a PPI, no matter how big? S&P futures held on to their 0.2% gain in Asian trading despite the rise in wholesale prices. Nasdaq's futures fell for the third day in a row. The yield on a 10-year Treasury bond in the United States was down by 2 basis points to 4.2732%. According to CME Group's FedWatch, the market has given in on the hope of a 50-basis point rate cut...

The U.S. Dollar was under pressure Thursday, as traders bet that the Federal Reserve would resume cutting interest rates in January. Bitcoin reached a new record high while global stock markets took a break from their blistering rally. MSCI's measure of Asia ex-Japan equities remained near its highest level since September 2021. It took cues from Wall Street where the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq closed at new highs for a second consecutive day. The MSCI All Country World Index reached a new record on Wednesday, and was nearly flat the following day. The futures markets suggested that European and...