Commodities Focus

After over a decade of prolonged talks, Russia and China have finally inked a historic gas deal, with Gazprom supplying 38 bcm/year of gas to CNPC for 30 years from 2018. Mriganka Jaipuriyar, senior editor for Platts Oilgram News and Song Yen Ling, Platts senior writer for China, assess the...

While gas markets in the northeast US swung high and low as temperatures ranged from the 90's to the 50's, the futures market stayed range bound as bull and bears stayed locked into their positions waiting for some kind of signal. Gas production and supply hit record highs but more than...

Mike Cooper, Platts Asia senior editor for coal, and Eric Zeng, managing editor at Fenwei Energy, Platts' joint venture partner for its CCI thermal coal prices discuss the latest moves in domestic and CFR South China thermal coal prices and the possible implications of China's proposed ban on...

Increased focus on US shale plays has contributed to an sharp increase of natural gas and NGL production. With more natural gas liquids flooding the market, the price relationship between gas, NGLs and petrochemicals is tightening and, in some cases, reversing. Samantha Santa Maria, Platts managing...

Ng Bao Ying, Platts senior Asian petrochemicals editor and Vernon Lee, Platts petrochemicals editor, provide in-depth analysis on where benzene volumes have been flowing to in recent months, with the market in the midst of the longest open arbitrage window for Asian benzene cargoes to the US since...

Spring finally arrrived and the US natural gas markets have finally settled down. But storage injections are well behind the averages and there is a lot of gas to get into the tank after this winter's record pull. Gas Daily editors Rodney White, Chris Tremulis, TL Hamilton, and Jasmin Melvin take a...

Bob Fryklund, chief upstream strategist, IHS Energy, spoke with Platts web editor Elizabeth Bassett about challenges the energy industry will face in East Africa on the fourth day of the 45th Offshore Technology Conference. While countries like Mozambique have massive oil and gas reserves,...

Platts web editor Elizabeth Bassett spoke with Christopher Smith, principal deputy assistant secretary for fossil energy with the Department of Energy, at the Offshore Technology Conference. Smith was part of a panel on the second day of the conference, and he talked about what sort of R&D the...

Warm weather out West and continued below-average temperatures in Chicago and the East bolstered US natural gas prices as the May futures contract held its own to roll off the board at $4.79/MMBtu. Gas Daily editors Rodney White, Chris Tremulis, TL Hamilton, and Bill Holland discuss what's in store...

Platts petrochemicals editor Pavel Pavlov talks about what's been driving up the US ethylene market, where spot prices recently hit a 12-week high. Both planned and unplanned outages have been spurring prices upward, as has the continued outage of the Evangeline pipeline between Texas and...

Platts petrochemical editor Anna Ward talks to Platts petrochemical analyst Chris Ferrell about the current state of polyethylene markets in North America and market expectations that prices could eventually move lower. We welcome any feedback or suggestions for topics. Contact us at...

Gas Daily editor Jim Magill explains how the Haynesville Shale, once a hot property for natural gas drilling in the US, has fallen out of favor as producers turn their attention elsewhere. Liquids-rich and oil-rich plays are shifting rig counts out of the Haynesville, and gas prices will need to...

Winter left US natural gas stocks at an 11-year low, and now the industry is left with the question of just how full storage will be before next winter and at what cost. Gas Daily editors Rodney White, Jessica Marron, Patrick Badgley, and Bill Holland discuss what could influence summer prices and...

Platts' William Powell, managing editor for International Gas Report, recently attended the Gastech conference in South Korea, focusing on the main themes discussed, including the prospects for gas prices globally and how, if at all, developments in Ukraine will affect the global gas picture. We...

Anna Ward, Platts associate petrochemical editor discusses the sharp fall in Asian natural rubber prices in the first quarter compared to Q1 2013. Why are prices on a downward trend and what is the market outlook going forward? We welcome any feedback or suggestions for topics. Contact us at...

The Northeast US, traditionally a large consumer of natural gas, is now also a major supplier thanks to the prolific Marcellus and Utica shale plays. T.L. Hamilton, associate editor for gas, discusses how three pipeline projects intended to move gas toward the Southeast could herald a growing focus...

The S&P Capital IQ Energy Symposium in Houston on April 2 was focused on exploring the future of North American oil and gas industry. One of the panelists, Stewart Glickman, director, equity research, S&P Capital IQ, explains how there are still questions about whether technology can...

Ahead of Platts' European Power Summit in Berlin on 28-29 April, 2014, Henry Edwardes-Evans spoke to Graham Weale, Chief Economist, RWE AG, on German power market supply, demand and wholesale price dynamics, market design and the prospects for a German capacity mechanism. We welcome any feedback or...

US methanol prices were hovering near five-year highs, but March cut them down, in part due to extra supply headed to US shores. Colleen Barry-Goodman, managing editor of Americas petrochemicals, talks with John Calton, associate editor of petrochemical markets, about how global prices, including...

Another blast of cold this week drove next-day cash gas prices higher by double digits for New England and New York. The weather isn't expected to linger but the hangover from all the gas withdrawn from storage to heat a 20-year winter may linger into the summer. Or not. Gas Daily Editors...

Platts petrochemical editor Nandita Lal talks to Platts petrochemical analyst Hetain Mistry about the latest Shale to Polyethylene report highlighting how the shale gas developments in North America and the conversion of coal to olefins in China are impacting global PE dynamics We welcome any...

Platts associate editor Patrick Badgley takes another look at what's ahead for US natural gas markets this summer, including for flows and storage, and answers questions submitted by participants in the March 18 "Cruel Summer?" webinar. Will gas drawdowns be replaced by summer, what's the future of...

Beatrice Bedeschi, associate editor for European gas and power, examines a recent reform of gas storage rules in Italy that introduces auctions to allocate capacity, against the backdrop of narrowing summer-winter spreads and an uncertain outlook as the Ukraine crisis escalates. We welcome any...

Starr Spencer, senior editor of oil news in the Platts Houston office, takes a look at what kind of decisions are being made in Mexico as state oil company Pemex goes through some radical changes in 2014. What will this year hold for onshore and offshore projects, and what kind of roles could...

Platts US natural gas editors Rodney White, Tiffany Hamilton, Jessica Marron, and Bill Holland discuss how the tired US Northeast gas markets are trying to look past another upcoming winter storm and prepare for the spring and summer. We welcome any feedback or suggestions for topics. Contact us...