Attacks on Israel by Iran cause limited damage but actions by the parties will hit energy markets, halt Iran nuclear plans
Murban crude oil in Abu Dhabi that usually trades at around $3 a barrel below dated Brent crude was trading at $90 a barrel on April 14 after Iran launched its first ever direct state-on-state attack on Israel using drones and cruise missiles, indicating that oil and gas prices in Europe will rise on Monday April 15, though the increase in Brent price could be limited to under $95 a barrel because of previous factoring in of the ongoing crisis.
Intercontinental Exchange reports record open interest amid surge in US and Dutch TTF gas and Abu Dhabi oil
Intercontinental Exchange Inc., the leading global provider of energy trading platforms, said that global futures and options markets reached record open interest of almost 94 million contracts during March as market players in sectors such as oil, natural gas and LNG launched hedging operations as prices declined.
European gas prices drop again as demand weakens while Asian spot cargo price widens gap with Europe
European natural gas prices and LNG values dropped a further 16 percent this week amid mild winter weather and the Japan-Korea Marker for spot cargoes also declined, though at a slower pace and widened the gap to over $4.70 per MMBtu with Europe’s benchmark gas price as Germany was poised to receive regular LNG shipments.
Energy trader Axpo granted $4Bln credit line by Swiss Government because of soaring hedging collateral
Switzerland's Axpo, the largest producer of renewable energy and an international leader in energy trading and marketing, has been granted a subordinated credit line of up to 4 billion Swiss francs ($4.07Bln) because of “unprecedented turmoil” on European power markets.
Oil recovery comes at auspicious time for LNG producer Abu Dhabi to launch new Murban Crude Futures
Intercontinental Exchange, the leading operator of global energy derivative exchanges and clearing houses, said the launch of the world’s newest oil futures contract for liquefied natural exporter Abu Dhabi is on track for a March 29 debut.
Oil and natural gas futures and options hit record with Asia adding deep 24-hour liquidity
CME Group, the world's leading derivatives market, reported an all-time daily volume record for oil and natural gas futures and options after markets plunged under the weight of the economic effects of the coronavirus and an oil price war, with trading levels in energy futures high in Asia after the US close.
CME said the record of 6.8 million contracts was set on March 9 and surpassed the previous record of 6.2M recorded on September 16, 2019 after the attacks from Yemen on Saudi oil installations.
The futures and options surge came the day after North Sea Brent crude dropped by its biggest margin in 30 years in such a short time span from almost $50 per barrel to $33.56 as Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia failed to agree production cuts.
However, oil and gas and stock markets staged solid rebounds on March 10 and March 11 after the previous day’s tumble on signs of co-ordinated action by the world’s biggest economies to counter the economic impacts of the coronavirus epidemic.
The biggest CME traded volumes on March 9 were in Crude Oil futures, Henry Hub Natural Gas futures, New York Harbor Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD), RBOB Gasoline Futures and Brent Last Day Financial Futures.
Eighth on the CME traded list was the Natural Gas European Option.
The CME’s LNG futures are all relatively new and did not make the list as they were only launched within the past six months.
The CME, which is the former Chicago Mercantile Exchange, introduced its LNG freight futures on December 23, 2019.
The trading and settlement platform had previously launched a futures contract in October 2019 for LNG linked to physically delivered volumes from Cheniere’s Sabine Pass plant.
CME noted that its West Texas Intermediate Light Sweet Crude Oil futures and options also reached a record 4.8M contracts on March 9, surpassing the previous record of 4.3M contracts traded on September 16, 2019.
“Amid global economic uncertainty, market participants around the world continue to turn to CME Group's energy futures and options for managing their risk,” said Peter Keavey, CME Group Global Head of Energy.
“In particular, our benchmark energy products have experienced high volumes outside of US market hours, demonstrating deep liquidity and flexibility around the clock,” added Keavey.
LNG prices under long-term supply contracts are expected to be lower during the next earnings reporting season by the oil and gas majors as Asian natural gas utilities benefit from lower prices.
In US natural gas, the New York Mercantile Exchange front-month future rose again to $1.93 per million British thermal units and the Henry Hub day-ahead price was higher at $1.85 per MMBtu.
The Platts Japan-Korea Marker price for Asian spot LNG was last at $3.115 per MMBtu for April cargoes.
The main European LNG price indicators rose by around 15 US cents per MMBtu.
The UK National Balancing Point price that guides LNG prices for the Atlantic Basin was last at $3.00 per MMBtu, up from $2.85 per MMBtu and the main natural gas price on Continental Europe, the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF), was also at $3.00 per MMBtu.
The US Gulf Coast LNG prices from the Intercontinental Exchange, dropped during the past week become of the market glut.
The front-month April 2020 price rallied to $2.401 per MMBtu from $2.390 per MMBtu.
The May LNG future was at $2.451 per MMBtu, up from a previous $2.449 per MMBtu.
The US GC LNG future traded on ICE is a settled derivatives contract available through to April 2022 and based on the average free-on-board (FOB) Gulf Coast LNG price.
