Crude oil prices resumed their weeks-long slide on Friday, after a brief respite on Thursday, reaching new lows for 2024. Price movements in other energy markets were muted – but mostly upwards – after an extended period of volatility.
The November Brent futures contract fell by another 2.2%, from USD 72.69/barrel on Thursday to USD 71.06/barrel, a fall of 11.6% over the past fortnight.
WTI moved in tandem, down 2.1%, from USD 69.15/barrel to USD 67.67/barrel.
Multiple factors are influencing oil prices, primarily concerns over future demand in the US and especially China, but also the possibility that Libyan production could soon resume after a dispute between rival governments in the east and west of the country.
The collapse in prices has prompted the members of OPEC+ to reschedule the lifting of output curbs planned for the start of October.
In a statement issued after a “virtual meeting” last Thursday, voluntary production cuts of 2.2 million barrels/day are to be extended for two months until the end of November, after which “they will be gradually phased out on a monthly basis … with the flexibility to pause or reverse the adjustments as necessary”.
The statement was issued before the price falls on Friday.
Meanwhile, the approach of a hurricane in the US Gulf Coast lifted prices in early trading on Monday.
In the US, the October Henry Hub natural gas contract gained another 0.9% to reach USD 2.28/MMBtu, following the 5.1% rise in the previous session.
The rise comes amid bullish inventory data late last week and expectations of rising demand as the heating season approaches. The November contract closed at USD 2.60/MMBtu and the December contract at USD 3.10/MMBtu.
European natural gas prices continued to rally, with TTF up 0.5% to USD 11.85/MMBtu and NBP up 0.6% to USD 11.53/MMBtu. The rises were larger in local currency, with TTF up 0.8% and NBP up 1.0%.
In Asia, the JKM LNG benchmark bucked the upward trend with a 0.2% decline to USD 13.79/MMBtu.
European coal and carbon prices edged upwards. API2 coal rose by 0.7% to USD 4.59/MMBtu while EU carbon dioxide emissions allowances were up 0.4% to EUR 65.93/tonne.
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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.
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