China’s urban road traffic plunges ($BBG)
EU plan for minimum gas storage requirement
U.S. shale producers in further consolidation
Italy would need 3 years to replace Russia gas
U.S./Russia deal on Iran nuclear accord ($WSJ)
China/Saudi discuss oil pricing in yuan ($WSJ)
China struggles with slowing economy ($WSJ)
China struggles to control coronavirus (trans.)*
* Like most public communications from policymakers, business chiefs and organisation leaders, reassuring statements can be reverse-engineered to identify the issues they are most concerned about – in this case the very rapid, often asymptomatic, spread of omicron infections and the challenge it presents to effectiveness and sustainability of the country’s dynamic clearance zero-covid strategy.
BRENT spot prices and calendar spreads have eased significantly over the last week, signalling a market expected to be very tight, compared with the extreme shortage indicated on March 8. Brent’s six-month calendar spread is now “only” 3.1 standard deviations away from the 1990-2022 average down from a record 7.1 standard deviations on March 8:
JKempEnergy.com 