China’s lithium futures prices rebound (Reuters)
Nigeria starts up major new oil refinery (Reuters)
California approves more transmission (Reuters)
U.S. military to indigenise explosives supply (WSJ)
Asia LNG imports rise following price drop (Reuters)
Argentina oilfield workers strike on safety (Reuters)
Crude oil prices are falling in real terms (Bloomberg)
Russia’s oil output increasingly opaque (Bloomberg)
Russia/Asia energy trade volume rises (Bloomberg)
EUROPE’s front-month gas futures price has fallen below €30 per megawatt-hour from €77 at the start of January 2023 and a record of almost €340 in August 2022. Gas inventories are plentiful following a mild winter and cuts in industrial consumption. As a result storage is on course to be full well before next winter starts. Prices are declining to stimulate industrial demand and divert LNG to more price-sensitive customers in South and East Asia:
U.S. OIL DRILLING is slowing in response to the fall in prices since the middle of 2022. The cyclical upturn in drilling activity that started after the end of the first wave of the pandemic in August 2020 is likely over. The number of active rigs targeting oil-rich formations fell to 575 over the seven days ending on May 19 down -11 compared with the previous week and by a total of -52 compared with the early December 2022:
JKempEnergy.com 