Power Up: Russia halts gas supplies to Austria
Power Up is published on Mondays and Thursdays. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also subscribe here.
Nov 18 -By Liz Hampton
U.S. Energy Markets Editor
Hello Power Up readers!There is no shortage of energy news to unpack today, from new restrictions on Russian natural gas flows into Europe to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's pick to head the Department of Energy. Meanwhile, oil prices are up to start the week as fighting between Russia and Ukraine intensified over the weekend. Brent oil futures were last trading around $71.66 a barrel, a gain of 62 cents, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 50 cents to $67.52 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures are up about 3%, trading at $2.904 per millionBritish thermal units.
Gas flows to Europe face more disruptions
And Chris Wright named as USenergy secretary nominee
Today we're going to take a look at Russia's energy sectorfollowing a string of major headlines on Friday, including a decision by Gazprom to suspend gas deliveries to Austria from this weekend amid a payment dispute.
The news came from a notice published on the central European gas hub platform. Austria is one of the few European countries that still depends on Russian gas, as the rest of the continent reduced imports following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Austria's OMV said it had been preparing for the eventual cut-off of Russian gas and that it can still deliver supply to customers.
On Monday, gas still appeared to be reaching Austria,flows data showed. Shipments from Slovakia to Austria were around 27 million cubic metres per day before Gazprom halted supplies, and were around 22.6 mcmd on Sunday - down 17%. Slovakia is the transit route mostly used for flowing Russian gas through Ukraine.
Liquefied natural gas tankers are diverting to Europe from Asia following news that Russia would halt supplies to OMV. At least five cargoes had been diverted over the past few days, Marwa Rashad reports.
Russian President Vladimir Putintold German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday that Russia was ready to look at energy deals, if Berlin was interested. The exchange marked their first phone conversation since December 2022.
Also in Russia, oil refineries have cut runs or halted processing due to losses amid export curbs, rising crude prices and high borrowing costs, underscoring the troubles facing the country’s energy sector. The refining sector has also been the target of Ukrainian drone attacks.
Russia's Ilsky refinery on Monday said it has applied for government financial help amid high interest rates and facility modernization, adding there was no risk of shutting the facility down.
Meanwhile, Trumphas picked oil industry executive Chris Wright as his energy secretary nominee. Wright is the head of Denver, Colorado-based Liberty Oilfield Services.
Wright has long touted the need for fossil fuels to help lift people out of poverty, and made a splash in 2019 when he drank fracking fluid. He's pushed back publicly against an anti-fossil fuel campaign by outdoor apparel company The North Face, and is likely to support Trump's push to maximize oil production, which is already at record highs.
ESSENTIAL READING
China's oil refinery throughput fell 4.6% in Octobercompared with the prior year, as plant closures offset the ramp up of new facilities and demand from holiday travel. Refiners processed 59.54 million metric tons of crude, roughly 14.02 million barrels per day.
TotalEnergies, BP, Equinor and Shell have committed$500 million to boost energy access in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia, America Hernandez reports. That represents about 0.7% of the $70 billion in net profits those four companies earned in 2023.
Britain's domestic energy price cap will rise 1% in January as geopolitical tensions and weather disruptions keep wholesale energy prices high, according to analysts at Cornwall Insights.
Norway's massive Johan Sverdrup oilfield - the largest in Western Europe - has been shut by a power outage, Equinor said on Monday. It was not immediately clear when production would resume.
On Friday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the European Union needs to reconsider sanctions against Russia because they are keeping energy prices elevated.
We hope you're enjoying the Power Up newsletter. We'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback. You can reach us at: powerup@thomsonreuters.com
Editing by Marguerita Choy
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
