Uncertainty about how the wars in Iran and Ukraine will unfold is keeping many traders away from taking positions in longer-dated futures contracts, according to investment bank Morgan Stanley. Most traders have now moved to bet on futures prices within a three to six-month period, instead of longer-dated futures contracts, as volatility has spiked and uncertainty has grown regarding where the wars are going and how much they would continue to impact the global oil market. “People have been more precise with their risk,” Brendan Ross,…

Pakistan is about to get some energy relief with tankers carrying Qatari LNG set to arrive in the country this month. The first cargo is seen arriving as early as Thursday, Bloomberg reported, citing ship-tracking data. Pakistan has been struggling to keep the lights on after Qatar declared force majeure on its exports following Iranian strikes that caused damage to its Ras Laffan LNG hub. Since then, Pakistan has been forced to turn to spot LNG markets and pay hefty premiums for the occasional shipment. Qatar was the biggest supplier of liquefied…

Oil prices continued to climb towards the $100 mark in early Asian trading on Wednesday after the U.S. destroyed five more Iranian crude tankers and Iran targeted U.S. forces in Jordan. These attacks are just the latest phase of a major escalation that began over the weekend when U.S. forces hit three other oil tankers in response to the IRGC targeting two U.S. warships. At the time of writing, both benchmarks were up by over $1, with WTI trading at $94.39 a barrel and Brent rising to $99.46.  U.S. Central Command (Centcom) announced late…

More than six months after the U.S.-Iran war began, shipping traffic at the Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted, and oil prices are once again closing in on the $100 per barrel mark. The U.S. and Iran remain deadlocked at the start of the seventh month of the conflict. But the U.S. economic pressure on Iran has intensified, while oil flows out from the other Persian Gulf producers are estimated to have rebounded to about two-thirds of pre-war levels with mostly dark transits and shuttle-shipping for ship-to-ship (STS) transfers outside the Strait…

For the first four months of the war between the United States and Israel and Iran, oil traders remained largely bearish. The overwhelming expectation was that the war would end soon—even as July rolled around—and oil flows out of Hormuz would recover. Instead, the world is slipping into a fuel shortage, and traders have gone bullish. They are especially bullish on fuels in the United States, it seems. The world’s biggest crude oil consumer and the biggest exporter of crude and fuels has not managed to avoid a supply squeeze at…

Sharing its eastern border with Iran, its northern border with Turkey, its western border with Syria and Jordan, and its southern border with Saudi Arabia, Iraq is arguably the single most geopolitically important country to the U.S., China, and Russia in the entire Middle East. In turn, the lawless western desert province of Anbar is perhaps the most geopolitically vital area in Iraq, and the most strategically important asset in Anbar is the huge Akkas gas field. With the new Iraqi Prime Minister, Ali al-Zaidi, having taken office on 16 May and…

Copper futures in London reached a record high on Tuesday as expectations of US tariffs drew record volumes from the seaborne market into US warehouses, tightening availability elsewhere despite subdued demand. As we highlighted on Monday, deteriorating conditions across global mining operations are adding to supply woes. Benchmark three-month futures on the LME gained nearly 1% to reach $14,533 a ton, exceeding January's peak before trimming some of those gains. Dr. Copper is breaking out...but this isn’t mainly…

Beyond its historical roots as a day to honor the achievements and contributions of workers, Labor Day has emerged as one of the largest retail sales weekends of the year in the U.S., second only to Black Friday. People usually travel in large numbers, too, with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) expected to screen more than 17 million passengers over the holiday. However, motorists were feeling plenty of pain at the pump this time around: the national average cost of unleaded gasoline clocked in at $4.15 per gallon on Monday, 30%…

A federal appeals panel appeared inclined Tuesday to let Washington, D.C.’s restrictions on natural gas in certain new buildings stand. The case turns on the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, or EPCA, which gives the Department of Energy authority to set efficiency and energy-use standards for appliances including furnaces, water heaters, dryers and stoves. Industry groups argue that D.C. cannot accomplish through a building code what federal law prevents it from doing directly to an appliance. The challengers include the National Association…

China's central bank bought more gold in August than in any single month since 2023, and the metal still can't hold above $4,400 an ounce. The People's Bank of China added 650,000 troy ounces, roughly 20 tonnes, to its reserves last month, according to data the central bank released Monday. That tops July's 640,000-ounce purchase and extends the PBOC's buying streak to 22 consecutive months, the longest run since China began disclosing monthly figures. Total holdings now stand at 76.73 million troy ounces, up from 76.08 million in July. The reported…

A federal appeals panel appeared inclined Tuesday to let Washington, D.C.’s restrictions on natural gas in certain new buildings stand. The case turns on the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, or EPCA, which gives the Department of Energy authority to set efficiency and energy-use standards for appliances including furnaces, water heaters, dryers and stoves. Industry groups argue that D.C. cannot accomplish through a building code what federal law prevents it from doing directly to an appliance. The challengers include the National Association…

The United States has imposed sanctions on a Turkish investment bank and two subsidiaries, accusing them of helping Iran move oil revenue and providing access to the international financial system as Washington intensifies its campaign to squeeze Tehran. The US Treasury Department on September 4 designated Istanbul-based Golden Global Yatirim Bankasi Anonim Sirketi, along with Golden Global Portfoy Yonetimi and Golden Global Varlik Kiralama, under its Iran sanctions authorities. The three entities were added to the Treasury's Specially Designated…

China, Russia and Kazakhstan are mulling the development of a new northern trade route which would use the Irtysh and Ob rivers to open access for the export of Chinese goods from Russian Arctic ports at the base of the Yamal Peninsula. Trade along the Ob-Irtysh system reached an estimated peak of 9 million tons annually in the 1970s before crashing following the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991. Kazakhstan and Russia in recent years have floated the idea of reviving the route, but the concept gained momentum only recently,…

Chevron plans to double the number of drilling rigs it operates in Venezuela under a five-year expansion that targets roughly 600,000 barrels per day of production. CFO Eimear Bonner said Tuesday that Chevron will add rigs under new contract terms signed with Venezuela last week. Those terms also give Chevron access to international arbitration, a particularly useful provision in a country with a long history of oil nationalizations and contract disputes. Chevron’s three Venezuelan joint ventures plan to invest more than $7 billion through…

Chevron plans to double the number of drilling rigs it operates in Venezuela under a five-year expansion that targets roughly 600,000 barrels per day of production. CFO Eimear Bonner said Tuesday that Chevron will add rigs under new contract terms signed with Venezuela last week. Those terms also give Chevron access to international arbitration, a particularly useful provision in a country with a long history of oil nationalizations and contract disputes. Chevron’s three Venezuelan joint ventures plan to invest more than $7 billion through…

A planned nuclear cooperation deal between the United States and Saudi Arabia won't include the toughest inspection regime the U.N.'s atomic watchdog has to offer, but it's going to come close on the activities that matter most. That's the picture International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi laid out Monday in Vienna, speaking to reporters during the agency's September Board of Governors meeting. Riyadh isn't signing the IAEA's Additional Protocol, the tool that lets inspectors show up unannounced at sites a country hasn't even declared.…

Canada’s Trans Mountain pipeline hit full capacity for the first time in June, and the company running it already has another 300,000 barrels per day of capacity planned. Most of those new barrels are expected to head across the Pacific. Trans Mountain currently moves 890,000 bpd from Alberta to British Columbia. The operator plans to add 90,000 bpd in the fourth quarter, followed by another 210,000 bpd by the end of 2028, taking total capacity to roughly 1.19 million bpd. About two-thirds of tankers leaving the Westridge Marine Terminal…

Canada’s Trans Mountain pipeline hit full capacity for the first time in June, and the company running it already has another 300,000 barrels per day of capacity planned. Most of those new barrels are expected to head across the Pacific. Trans Mountain currently moves 890,000 bpd from Alberta to British Columbia. The operator plans to add 90,000 bpd in the fourth quarter, followed by another 210,000 bpd by the end of 2028, taking total capacity to roughly 1.19 million bpd. About two-thirds of tankers leaving the Westridge Marine Terminal…

Oil prices surge toward $100 as Houthi attacks, U.S. strikes on Iranian tankers and renewed Middle East tensions rattle markets.   Europe’s Gas Prices Surge as Storage Fears Return - European natural gas prices have jumped to €75 per MWh ($25.5 per MMBtu), the highest since 2022 and more than double their level a year ago, as the continent’s low inventories spark fears of winter supply shocks. - Since the Al Nuaman LNG carrier delivered its cargo to Rovigo, Italy, in early April, the EU has not imported any Qatari LNG, equivalent…

Europe’s benchmark natural gas prices jumped on Tuesday morning in Amsterdam as the Middle East crisis remains a major supply shock amid the European race against time to stock up for the winter. The front-month price at the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF), the benchmark for Europe’s gas trading, rose by 2% as of 8.40 a.m. Amsterdam time, to hit the highest level since the 2022-2023 crisis. At $86.90 (74.820 euros) per megawatt-hour (MWh), the price now exceeds the January 2023 levels, when Europe faced the first winter without…