The OPEC+ decision to chop its production quota by 2 million bpd has placed the Biden Administration between a rock and a tough place, with oil prices climbing earlier than the mid-terms and extremely few viable options to counter it.
Any doubt about the cohesion of OPEC+ was put to bed bcoz the group's summit in Vienna ended with a 2 million bpd production cut. This cut appears to own achieved exactly what the participating members wanted, namely higher oil prices. It appears that fears of a worldwide economic slowdown have taken a back seat to grease market fundamentals and geopolitical uncertainty. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the country which will spearhead the assembly cuts (Russia is already producing at its decreased target), has put the Biden Administration between a rock and a tough place only several weeks before the midterm elections. Confronted with the prospect of rising gasoline prices, the White House has to react swiftly if it doesn't want to be seen as weak.
White House Mulls legal action Against OPEC+. on the rear of the OPEC+ 2 million bpd production cut, the Biden Administration threatened to trigger anti-trust action against the alliance, with legal committees in both chambers of Congress approving legislation that might allow the White House to try and do so.
EU Publishes Eighth Russia Sanctions Package. EU issued its new set of sanctions against Russia, including a ban on most steel products, a legal basis for a price cap on oil exports to 3rd countries, in addition as an additional tightening on services involved within the seaborne transport of Russian oil.
Nigerian Oil Theft Gets Creative. Nigeria’s state company NNPC said it had discovered an illegal 4-kilometer connection line from the Forcados export terminal into the ocean, siphoning off crude undetected for nine years, as a part of its clampdown against widespread oil theft.
US to Delineate New Drilling Auctions. In accordance with the IRA act, the US Interior started the method of organizing oil and gas drilling auctions in American state, Wyoming, and therefore the Gulf of Mexico, preparing the legal groundwork for the upper royalty rates and price bidding floors.
No Lithium Support for Warren Buffett. The Biden Administration hailed Berkshire Hathaway’s plans to supply lithium from geothermal brines in California’s Salton Sea as a breakthrough for U.S. lithium, however, it subsequently rescinded support for the project after Hathaway sought control over patents.
EVs can be Generating Renewable Credits. The US Environmental Protection Agency is predicted to propose that electric vehicles be eligible for renewable fuel credits, meaning that carmakers like Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) will gain access to a brand newform of credit referred to as e-RINs.
Germany In Talks for More Gas Aid. The German government is nearing a deal to produce billions of euros in additional guarantees to SEFE, formerly Gazprom’s German subsidiary now under government trusteeship, to confirm the corporate can honor its supply commitments to German consumers.
PEMEX Keeps Mum on Methane Leaks. per Mexico’s environmental regulator, the country’s national company PEMEX didn't report any methane leaks at its Ku-Maloob-Zaap offshore production cluster, despite the eu Space Agency seeing it from space.
Malaysia LNG Goes Into tragedy. Malaysia LNG, one among the biggest liquefied fossil fuel projects globally operated by Petronas, declared unavoidable casualty on LNG supplies after it discovered a leak along the Sabah-Sarawak onshore pipeline, jeopardizing term deliveries to Japanese buyers.
Congo Rejects US Environmental Warning. the govt. of the Democratic Republic of Congo has formally rejected asking by US climate envoy John Kerry to withdraw some oil blocks from its upcoming licensing round on environmental grounds, saying it'd undermine the African country’s development.
The Last Nuclear Leak Before Decommissioning. A nuclear leak occurred during flushing measures on a discharge line at Germany’s Brunsbuettel atomic power plant, which permanently pack up in 2007 and has been within the dismantling process since early 2019.
Europe’s Zinc Industry goes Down. International trading firm Glencore (LON:GLEN) is shuttering its Nordenham zinc smelter in Germany, marking the third case of zinc refining capacity loss in Europe this year as power prices render operations financially untenable, further tightening the already squeezed physical market.
Russians Want to create Up Own Alumina Plants. consistent with media reports, the Russian government wants to create up its own capacity of alumina, employed in aluminum production, because the country is 65% reliant on imports from China after the shutting of the Ukrainian and Australian markets.
Qatar Sticks to its Trusted Partners within the West. After confirming TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) as a partner in the second phase of its LNG expansion project North Field South, Qatar is now expected to unveil Shell (LON:SHEL) and ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) as new NFS partners over the upcoming weeks.
