What we’re reading (3/9)
“Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq Futures Fall, Oil Slides After Volatile Day On Wall Street” (Yahoo! Finance). “A swift decline in oil prices on Monday followed comments from Trump suggested that the war with Iran had largely concluded. Speaking to CBS News, Trump said the war was ‘very complete, pretty much,’ adding that opposing forces had effectively lost their naval and air capabilities. Trump also said that he believes the war is ‘very far’ ahead of the four-to-five week military timeline that was initially suggested.”
“G7 Energy Ministers To Meet Tuesday Morning To Discuss Release Of Oil Reserves, Sources Say” (CNBC). “The talks between the G7 have been ‘positive,’ the sources said. Any coordinated action on releasing reserves would occur after the energy ministers’ meeting, they said. The U.S. believes a joint release of 300 million to 400 million barrels, representing 25% to 30% of the 1.2 billion barrels in the reserve, would be appropriate, sources told CNBC.”
“Is The Nightmare Scenario For Global Energy Here?” (Daniel Yergin in the Financial Times). “Iran was once one of the key oil suppliers to the world. No longer. Its exports, constrained by sanctions, amount to less than 2 per cent of global supplies, most of which go to China at discounted prices. A similar change has taken place in Venezuela. Once a star of world oil and one of the founding members of Opec, today it can hardly even be called a petrostate. It produces less oil than the US state of North Dakota and a quarter as much as neighbouring Brazil.”
“Gold Steadies After Trump Signals Iran War May Be Nearing End” (Bloomberg). “Gold steadied, after the US dollar retreated on comments by President Donald Trump that the war in the Middle East could be nearing an end. Bullion was near $5,140 an ounce in early trading, having lost 0.6% in the previous session, after Trump said he believed the conflict with Iran would be resolved ‘very soon.’ A gauge of the dollar fell as much as 0.1%, extending a decline on Monday. Oil tumbled after an exceptionally volatile session.”
“There’s Another Energy Market That May Get Hit Harder Than Oil By Strait Of Hormuz Closure” (CNBC). “[W]hile many states in the Middle East produce oil, gas production is concentrated at one industrial complex in Qatar, making the market much more vulnerable going forward, noted Alex Munton, director of global gas and LNG research at Rapidan Energy. The real risk, Munton said, is how difficult it will be to restart Qatar’s LNG production at Ras Laffan once traffic resumes in the Strait. Given the complexities of cooling gas, which is fundamentally an industrial process, it will take much longer to restart than oil production.”
