Nuclear generation in the US and France faces contrasting challenges of power market prices and safety concerns, as this week’s graphics show. Other top trends picked by S&P Global Platts editors include China’s falling LNG imports, stuttering gold prices, refinery margins and coking coal prices.
Platts Insight: the essential perspective on global commodities
 
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November 13, 2019 09:31 UTC 
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OPEC officials have played down the prospect of deeper crude oil production cuts. Demand may be picking up and US shale producers are finally feeling the pinch. However, tepid prices and the awkward timing of the giant Aramco IPO will make a strong case for the group to take more action. Oil continuing to trade around $62/b is a problem OPEC has failed to resolve. The group’s key producers from the Middle East require higher prices to sustain their petrodollar economies. Saudi Arabia requires prices above $80/b to balance its budget and faces its seventh straight year of total government spending outstripping revenues in 2020 unless it can engineer a rebound in the value of its main export. |
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November 12, 2019 14:04 UTC
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For every barrel of oil produced from the average Permian Basin well, about three barrels of water get pumped out with it. The water-to-oil ratio is lowest in the established Midland Basin, but more exaggerated in the Delaware and other Texas basins. A midstream water management industry has grown up in Texas alongside the shale oil boom. Most of the water gets injected back underground into disposal wells, although more and more is getting treated and moved to other drilling sites to frack new wells. |
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November 11, 2019 06:18 UTC
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Precious metals top this week’s selection of energy and commodity charts, as palladium prices continue to climb, but provide little upside for platinum. Plus: US natural gas prices, Middle East economies’ oil dependency, European coal-to-gas generation switching and Chinese LNG imports. |
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November 7, 2019 14:27 UTC
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The market for European Guarantees of Origin, or GO, electronic tags that certify the source of renewable electricity, is evolving quickly. S&P Global Platts has been monitoring developments, including the impact of recently-launched French auctions; price dynamics across regions and technologies; and where additional GO supply will come from in the coming years. |
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November 5, 2019 14:53 UTC
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Norway brags about its green credentials but the Scandinavian petrodollar state still depends on exporting oil and natural gas for its long-term prosperity. Its latest giant offshore oil field project is proof that the North Sea still has decades of life left as a major producing basin. The UK government should take note and support more exploration in British waters. |
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November 4, 2019 10:00 UTC
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LNG breaks new records either side of the Atlantic in this week’s pick of energy and commodities trends from S&P Global Platts editors. Plus: US crude imports and refining, German power price dynamics and more. |
 
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October 31, 2019 13:07 UTC
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Coal demand is declining in the US and Europe, but coal remains the world’s most dominant fuel for power generation. Despite what you may read, the global market for thermal coal continues to gain steam, particularly as Asia builds new coal-fired power plants to charge its growing economies. |
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October 29, 2019 14:24 UTC
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Oil companies are squarely in the aim of Extinction Rebellion’s campaign against fossil fuels, and they are struggling to find a response. Instead of running away when confronted by climate change activists, it is time the industry’s top executives from companies such as BP, Shell and Total provided these campaigners with some hard economic facts about how oil markets work. |
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October 29, 2019 06:30 UTC
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In a new monthly post, S&P Global Platts analyzes China’s key economic indicators, and what they mean for the metals sector. Chinese commodity prices softened over September and into the first half of October, while economic data was mixed over the same period. |