Natural Gas








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North America

Power Markets

Texas nuclear project talks with "hyperscalers"

In documents released on Tuesday, Fermi, an Texas-based company that wants to build four nuclear reactors next to the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex, stated it was in talks with large data managers about leasing agreements for this project. Fermi is a company co-founded Rick Perry, a U.S. former energy secretary. It wants to build 4 AP1000 reactors in a facility that it calls a "hypergrid." The 11 gigawatt facility, powered by nuclear energy, natural gas and renewables, will be built in Amarillo, near the Department of Energy Pantex nuclear weapons factory and in partnership with Texas Tech University. Fermi stated...

Crude Oil

EIA: US natgas production and demand will reach record highs by 2025 before declining in 2026

The U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook, released on Tuesday, predicted that the U.S. Natural Gas output and demand would both reach record highs by 2025. However, they will then decline in 2026. EIA projects that dry gas production will increase from 103.2 billion cubic feet per day in 2024, to 105.9 in 2025, before slipping to 105.4 in 2026. This compares to a record of 103.6 bcfd for 2023. The agency also predicted that domestic gas consumption will rise from 90.5 bcfd, a record in 2024, to 91.4bcfd by 2025 and then ease back to 91.1bcfd by...

Natural Gas

Prices of gas in Europe trade within a narrow range due to strong supply

The Dutch and British wholesale prices of gas were in a tight range on Monday due to the strong supply from Norway, and LNG. According to LSEG, the benchmark Dutch contract for August deliveries at TTF hub increased by 0.06 euros to 33.46 Euro per megawatt-hour (MWh) as of 0843 GMT. The contract for the day ahead was up by 0.15 euros at 32.65 Euro/MWh. The British contract for tomorrow's day has dropped by 0.25 pence, to 78.25 cents per therm. Fundamentals remain the same. The fact that Norwegian production is back at normal levels, and the low wind generation...

LNG

Australia's review of the market rules includes a gas reservation for the east coast

As part of an extensive review of the market rules, the Australian government announced on Monday that it would consider creating a reserve of gas on Australia's east coast. The Competition Regulator has warned about looming shortages on the east coast of the country. According to the most recent forecast, a gap will be created by 2028 if no new investments are made. The majority of reserves are in the remote north-west. The review will also aim to preserve Australia's reputation as an important reliable exporter of LNG. The market regulations are being reviewed. They include export controls, an east...

Natural Gas Utilities

Prices of EUROPE GAS have fallen by over 10% following the news that Iran and Israel had reached a ceasefire

The wholesale gas price in the Netherlands and Britain fell by more than 10% Tuesday morning, following the news that Iran had agreed to a ceasefire with Israel. This removed the premium for risk the market had built into the market due to potential disruptions of oil and gas supplies. The benchmark Dutch front month contract at the TTF Hub fell by 4.86 euro to 36.38 Euros per Megawatt Hour (MWh), which is $12.38/mmBtu by 0939 GMT. It had traded as low 35.45 Euros/MWh earlier, LSEG's data showed. The British front-month contracts was down 13.72 pennies at 84.85 cents per...

Fossil Fuels

Rosatom will explore the construction of a high-capacity reactor in Uzbekistan

Rosatom, the state-owned nuclear corporation of Russia, signed a deal with Uzbekistan’s Atomic Energy Agency on Friday to examine the feasibility and cost of building a nuclear power plant capable enough to generate large amounts in this Central Asian nation. Rosatom has already planned to build smaller nuclear units in Uzbekistan. The agreement was signed with the Uzbek Government at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Over the weekend, the Kazakh government also asked the Russian energy company to lead a group to build the country's first nuclear power station. The five former Soviet Central Asian republics do not have...

Energy Markets

World Bank will end nuclear energy ban, but still debate upstream gas

Ajay Banaga, president of the World Bank, said that its board had agreed to lift a ban on financing nuclear energy projects for developing countries. This is part of an effort to meet the growing demand for electricity. Banga sent an email outlining the bank's new energy strategy to its staff following what he described as a constructive meeting with the board. Banga said that the board had not reached a consensus on whether or not the bank should be involved in upstream natural-gas projects. He wrote, "This will need further discussion." In 2017, the global development bank, a lender...

Power Markets

EIA: Data centers will drive US electricity use to new highs by 2025 and '26.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Tuesday that data centers, which are power-hungry and provide computing power to artificial intelligence and crypto currencies, will drive U.S. electric consumption to new records in 2025 and in 2026. EIA projects that power demand will increase to 4,193 billion Kilowatt Hours (kWh) by 2025, and 4,283 kWh by 2026. This is a significant rise from the record 4,097 kWh of 2024. The United States is expected to increase its electricity consumption for heating and transportation, in addition to data centres. EIA estimates that by 2025, residential customers will consume 1,517 billion kWh...

Climate Change

Trump's proposal will lift Biden's limits on Alaskan oil drilling

On Monday, the administration of U.S. president Donald Trump proposed rolling back Biden's limits on oil drilling in Alaska. This area is the largest undeveloped public land tract in America. This move is in line with Trump's energy agenda, which includes reducing regulations on oil and gas production and increasing domestic fuels. The Alaska National Petroleum Reserve is made up of 10.6 million acres (4.39 million hectares). NPR-A is the name given to a 23 million-acre (9,3 million-hectare) area of Alaska's North Slope, which was designated in 1923 for emergency oil supplies by the U.S. Navy. In the 1970s, the...

Environment

Prices largely stable but market risks persist

The Dutch and British wholesale prices of gas were mostly stable on Friday, as Norwegian flows stabilized and the low demand allowed storage to be refilled. However, the tighter market conditions continued to support these prices. LSEG data shows that the benchmark Dutch front-month contract was up 0.26 euros at 35.18 Euro per megawatt hour or $11.68/mmBtu at 0816 GMT. Auxilione, a consultancy, said that with the June contract ending on Friday, market attention is now shifted to July. The Dutch July contract increased by 0.14 euros to 35.40 Euro/MWh. The British front-month contracts were down 1.21 pence, at 83.25...

Natural Gas

Sempra Port Arthur Phase 2 receives US approval for LNG export

The Department of Energy announced on Thursday that Sempra’s Port Arthur Phase 2 Project in Texas had won U.S. approval for exporting liquefied gas to Europe and Asia. The first final LNG export approval was given by President Donald Trump, reversing a pause in the approvals ordered by former President Biden to study the environmental and economic impacts of this booming industry. According to U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, the project is "a significant expansion of a first phase that was already under construction – turning more liquid gold underneath our feet into energy for the American public." Port...

Electric Utilities

NextDecade: JERA signs 20-year LNG Supply Deal

NextDecade, a U.S. producer of liquefied gas, announced on Thursday that it had signed a deal for supplying Japan's largest power generator JERA 2 million tonnes of LNG per year from the fifth liquefaction plant in its Rio Grande Project. Early trading saw NextDecade shares up 5.5% to $8.11. The United States will be the largest LNG exporter in the world in 2024. It is expected to ship 11.9 billion cubic foot per day. This has been boosted by President Donald Trump lifting a moratorium in January on new export licenses. NextDecade’s deal with JERA - Japan's largest LNG buyer...

Europe

Fossil Fuels

Kazakhstan cancels plans for Karachaganak Gas Processing Plant with Foreign Shareholders

The Kazakhstani energy ministry announced on Wednesday that it had canceled plans to build a processing plant for gas at the Karachaganak Field with the project's major foreign investors. It stated, without going into detail, that they were looking to work with domestic companies. Central Asia has been in a dispute with oil companies for many years over cost. In 2023, the country will bring multi-billion dollar claims against these companies. Companies claim that the government simply wants to increase its share in major oil and gas projects, which amounts to "resource nationalism". Kazakhstan's authorities rejected this criticism and said...

Energy Markets

EU envoys are expecting to resolve the blockage of new Russia sanctions by this week

The European Union said that they expected to reach an agreement during a summit of the EU this week regarding an 18th package against Russia. Slovakia and Hungary use it as a bargaining tool for concessions about Russian energy. The European Commission proposed the package to encourage Russia to negotiate with Ukraine a ceasefire after EU leaders demanded "massive sanction" in May. The package aims to target more of Russia's revenues from energy by listing its banks and destroying its shadow tanker fleet. Hungary and Slovakia announced on Monday that they will not support new sanctions unless the proposal to...

Energy Markets

Budapest: Hungary and Slovakia reject Russian sanctions package

Hungary and Slovakia decided to not support the EU plan for an 18th package of sanctions against Russia. Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto announced this on Monday during a live press conference broadcast on Facebook. The minister stated that Hungary and Slovakia have decided to block the package of sanctions in response to European Union plans for phasing out Russian energy imports. Szijjarto stated, "We did it because the European Union... wants to prevent member states including Hungary and Slovakia from buying cheap Russian natural gas or cheap Russian oil, as they had done in the past." Hungary and Slovakia...

Western Europe

North Asia

Refined Products

EU abandons idea of sanctions against Russian LNG imports

EU officials say that European officials have given up on pushing for an import ban of Russian liquefied gas in the bloc as part of upcoming packages due to resistance from certain governments and the uncertainty over alternative sources. The Commission instead wants to create a road map that will end the EU's dependence on Russian energy in 2027. The plan will be announced early in May, but there are few details. Officials say that the work on the measures has been slow. The Commission will likely propose a 17th set of sanctions against Russia in June. In January, when...

Energy Markets

Denmark to permit conservation work on harmed Nord Stream 2 pipeline

Denmark's energy agency on Tuesday said it had actually approved Nord Stream 2 AG, a system of Russia's. Gazprom, consent to carry out preservation deal with. the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea, which was. harmed in a series of blasts in 2022. The upkeep work is necessary to decrease ecological. and security threats coming from the pipeline being filled with. seawater and staying gas, the agency stated in a. declaration. The work intends to protect the damaged pipeline by. installing customised plugs at each of the open pipeline ends to. avoid even more gas blow-out and...

Crude Oil

Russia's crude oil and LNG shipments to Asia slip a little in 2024: Russell

Asia's imports of Russian petroleum and melted natural gas are set to log little decreases this year and while coal had a larger drop, there's little evidence that Western sanctions are working well. Russia has actually come to depend on Asia, the world's biggest buyer of energy commodities, to soak up cargoes that are no longer able to be offered to buyers in Europe and elsewhere as an outcome of sanctions positioned against Moscow in the wake of the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. China and India emerged as major purchasers of Russian crude, coal and LNG after the intrusion,...

Energy Markets

Russia's crude oil and LNG shipments to Asia slip a little in 2024: Russell

Asia's imports of Russian crude oil and melted natural gas are set to log little declines this year and while coal had a bigger drop, there's little evidence that Western sanctions are working well. Russia has concerned depend on Asia, the world's most significant purchaser of energy products, to absorb freights that are no longer able to be sold to buyers in Europe and elsewhere as an outcome of sanctions put against Moscow in the wake of the February 2022 intrusion of Ukraine. China and India became significant buyers of Russian crude, coal and LNG after the invasion, taking freights...

Energy Markets

Russia's Putin authorizes no-disclosure waiver for Novatek, Surgut

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Monday allowing Novatek and its melted natural gas units, along with oil firm Surgutneftegaz, to restrict public disclosure about their services. Russia began keeping some information shortly after its soldiers got in Ukraine in February 2022. Certain oil and gas stats and federal spending plan details are hidden, while banks were purchased to restrict disclosures as Moscow looks for to limit its exposure to Western sanctions. Under Russian stock exchange guidelines, noted companies are generally needed to disclose their financial outcomes, details of big offers and other considerable information. Putin included the...

Natural Gas

Gazprom CEO paints bleak future for Europe without Russian gas

The CEO of the Kremlin-controlled energy giant Gazprom stated on Thursday that Europe was harming its own commercial sector by artificially damaging demand for gas, as Russian gas exports to the area have shrivelled. Alexei Miller stated there might be gas cost shocks and supply interruption ahead, informing a conference that production was declining greatly in some European market sectors badly affected by gas price volatility. He offered no particular examples. Russian gas supplies to Europe fell sharply after Moscow sent its militaries into Ukraine in February 2022, and much of the deficiency was used up by providers from the...

Oil Refineries

Russia considers diesel export restriction for non-producers, Interfax reports

Russian oil companies have held talks with the federal government on whether companies that do not produce diesel must be banned from exporting it due to the fact that of concern the refiners might be losing aids, Interfax news company reported on Tuesday. Russia is the world's greatest seaborne exporter of diesel, just ahead of the United States, and diesel represents the biggest share of its oil item exports. It enforced a temporary restriction on diesel exports last year and media reports have emerged Russia is considering another ban to try to consist of increasing domestic prices. Interfax, pointing out...

Environment

EUROPE GAS-Prices down on weak demand, higher wind output

Dutch and British wholesale prices were mainly lower on Monday morning on weak need and higher wind generation however with tensions in the Middle East still a danger. The benchmark front-month agreement at the Dutch TTF hub were down 0.63 euro at 40.20 euros per megawatt hour ( MWh) by 0838 GMT, while the December agreement was 0.23 euro lower at 41.10 euros/MWh, LSEG information revealed. The British day-ahead price was 0.30 pence lower at 97.50 pence per therm. Regional circulation zone need in north-west Europe has reduced due to typical temperatures anticipated to be up by 1.43 degrees Celsius...

Energy Markets

EU to send 160 million euros from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine

The amount of 160 million euros from the proceeds of frozen Russian assets will be allocated to meet Ukraine's immediate humanitarian needs for this winter, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday. Russia has knocked out about 9 gigawatts (GW) of Ukraine's. energy infrastructure, which von der Leyen stated was the power. equivalent of the three Baltic states. On top of the money injection, the EU will aid with repair work. and additional exports. The International Energy Agency stated on. Thursday that Ukraine might face a shortfall of 6 GW this winter. as peak electricity demand boosts....

Fossil Fuels

Equinor Q2 profit down, however beats forecast

Equinor's. secondquarter profits decreased by 4% year on year as natural. gas prices fell, the energy company reported on Wednesday,. although the outcomes still surpassed experts' expectations. The Norwegian oil and gas manufacturer's adjusted revenues. before tax for April-June relieved to $7.48 billion from $7.80. billion a year earlier, beating the $6.96 billion forecasted in a. poll of 22 analysts assembled by Equinor. Our operational performance continued to be strong through. the quarter, CEO Anders Opedal said in a statement. Compared to the very same quarter in 2015, the understood. European piped gas rate reduced due to moderate temperatures and....

Energy Markets

Plan for tariff on Brazil ammonium nitrate stirs debate

A proposal to present a tariff on ammonium nitrate imports has actually pitted chemical market lobby Abiquim versus regional fertilizer mixers and powerful food manufacturers that prefer foreign supplies. The request by Abiquim, still pending before the advancement and trade ministry, highlights wider ramifications of Western sanctions on Russia, which the lobby says ended up boosting exporters in Asia by providing cheap access to gas used as feedstock and fuel to make crop nutrients. Critics of the levy on ammonium nitrate, which is likewise used in explosives, state the tariff would penalize about 90% of domestic intake as Brazil relies...

Natural Gas Liquids

Putin says Russia is eager to partner with Vietnam in energy and security

Russian President Vladimir Putin said throughout a see to Vietnam on Thursday that Russia was keen to partner with the southeast Asian nation in energy and security. Russia, a significant energy, natural deposits and nuclear power, rotated to Asia after the West enforced sanctions on Moscow for the conflict in Ukraine. A day after signing a shared defence arrangement with North Korea, Putin said that Moscow and Hanoi were interested in building what he called a trustworthy security architecture in the Asia-Pacific area. We will also increase the performance of cooperation on these projects in the energy and gas sectors...