Natural gas storage inventories in the US have crept within 5% of the five-year average and Canada is pushing even higher as the injection season winds down. However, key hubs throughout the US and Canada are reporting prices not maintained since the dawn of the shale revolution due to North America's newfound exposure to global gas market forces. If the US and Canada experience a colder-than-normal winter, and drops inventories below 1 Tcf, pricing analysts expect the benchmark Henry Hub to cra...
Oct 28, 2021•22 min
In the latest installment of the S&P Global Platts Commodities Focus podcast, Harry Weber, a Platts senior natural gas writer in Houston, is joined by Dania El Saadi and Claudia Carpenter in Dubai. Dania is a Platts senior editor, Middle East news, and Claudia is Platts editorial lead, Middle East crude. They discuss the recently completed Gastech, the biggest in-person gathering of gas market participants since the coronavirus pandemic erupted almost two years ago. While there were nibbles ...
Oct 05, 2021•13 min
As Europe struggles to replenish natural gas inventories, prices reach all-time highs, with Platts Analytics forecasting even more gas-to-oil switching throughout the coming winter. While European gas and power supply and demand hangs in balance, market participants look to controversial Nord Stream 2 for a sign of hope, as the project enters certification proceedings. S&P Global Platts Managing Editor of European Gas Gary Hornby, Platts Analytics Senior Gas Analysts Valentina Bonetti, and U...
Sep 30, 2021•17 min
Global polyethylene prices and trade flows have been hit by challenge after challenge, from the coronavirus pandemic since early 2020, the deep freeze in the US in February, to the recent container shortage that has driven freight rates to record highs. With the hurricane season still on in the US, new quality standards expected to be implemented in India, logistical issues in Europe, and polyethylene plant startups in the coming months, the question on when prices and trade flows will normalize...
Sep 29, 2021•14 min
A lack of vessel space, high freight costs, port backlogs and a shortage of truck drivers, the logistical challenges facing the plastics industry have multiplied across 2021. Join Platts petrochemical editors Aziz Ehtaiba, Sarah Trinder and Callum Colford as they discuss what this has meant for polymers and ask Platts Analytics Yi-Jeng Huang what's next for the markets.
Sep 27, 2021•15 min
Emerging economies and their successful vaccine rollouts will be key to the short-term recovery of the oil tanker market, after the highs of 2020, as it works through a period of low freight rates. International Seaways CEO Lois Zabrocky and Platts EMEA senior writer for transport fuels Tom Washington discuss the state of the market and where it is pointing.
Sep 23, 2021•16 min
California has one of the most aggressive clean energy goals in the US and the state leads the US in utility-scale solar capacity and battery storage capacity. More recently, discussions have picked up regarding offshore wind in the West. Platts power news editor Kassia Micek discussed with Commissioner Karen Douglas the work the California Energy Commission is doing to develop offshore wind along the West Coast.
Sep 22, 2021•21 min
Germany goes to the polls on September 26 in the most open contest for years. As Chancellor Angela Merkel prepares to step down, S&P Global Platts' news and analytics experts discuss the daunting energy challenges facing her successor. The rally in natural gas prices adds uncertainty and may overshadow coalition talks that will set the framework for the coming four years as the new government has to put Europe's biggest economy on track for the new 2045 net zero target.
Sep 17, 2021•25 min
Leaders in the public and private sector are faced with the possibility of more frequent and intense weather events -- winter storms, heat waves, cyclones, wildfires -- as anthropogenic climate change continues, and must decide whether they should "price in" the risk of such events in building more robust and sustainable energy infrastructure. Michael Webber, chief technology officer at Energy Impact Partners, discusses the opportunities and challenges to that approach with Mark Watson, S&P ...
Sep 15, 2021•20 min
Tariff uncertainty, high freight rates, labor issues and other dynamics have combined with supply constraints and healthy demand to elevate global aluminum premiums. And all that's happening as the value chain -- from producers to end-users -- is grappling with decarbonization and other big-picture challenges. Hear from S&P Global Platts senior North America aluminum editors Tina Allagh and Sarah Baltic, along with Christopher Davis, Platts Regional Pricing Director for Metals in the America...
Sep 01, 2021•9 min
Companies operating in Latin America have set their eyes on nascent opportunities in the region like Guyana and Brazil, as Mexico has put the liberalization of its upstream sector on hold. But the attractiveness of the 25 billion barrels of oil equivalent found in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico has not been lost because of politics. We talked with Sergio Pimentel, a partner at Mexico City consultancy Agon and a former official at CNH, Mexico's energy regulator, about the country's regulations and ...
Aug 26, 2021•23 min
New York has one of the most aggressive decarbonization plans in the country through its Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which sets goals for building several gigawatts of renewable energy capacity, including offshore wind, battery storage and the transmission lines to connect those resources with urban demand centers, particularly New York City. In this edition of the Platts Commodities Focus podcast, Jared Anderson, senior writer with S&P Global Platts, speaks with Sophie ...
Aug 24, 2021•22 min
Sustainability is currently a key theme in the world of commodities. Recycled plastics and recycled metals have garnered considerable attention given how widely plastics and metals are used in downstream consumer products including food packaging and electronics. S&P Global Platts market experts Samuel Chin, Miranda Zhang, and Eric Su explore the differences and similarities of these materials and their markets, and offer insights on how both commodities fit into the bigger picture of sustai...
Aug 11, 2021•24 min
Container shipping markets have been tagged as red hot because base box rates have more than quintupled since the market began its steep hike north in May 2020 amid the pandemic's operational and logistical constraints. But because exorbitantly high base rates are no longer the ticket to getting a box on a ship or a guarantee of timely delivery, the market has been shaped by measures such as carriers' premium services and surcharges that can more than double base rates. S&P Global Platts Ame...
Aug 10, 2021•20 min
Jonty Rushforth, Senior Director of Markets and Energy Transition, and Paula VanLaningham, Platts Global Head of Carbon, talk about the devastating wildfires sweeping across the globe and the challenges facing Nature-Based Carbon Credits as the market reckons with Offset Permanence in the face of rising global temperatures. For more discussions on all topics related to the Energy Transition, make sure to tune in to the Platts Future Energy podcast on Spotify , Apple Podcasts and our website ....
Aug 09, 2021•16 min
Plastic usage and recycling has become a hot-button topic recently, as the push for sustainable products is forefront in manufacturing goals. Aluminum has long been touted the beverage package of choice because of the perceived sustainability it offers, but are the two closer in the race for sustainability than we think? We take a closer look at the economic and environmental sustainability of recycling a can versus recycling a plastic bottle, and what it means for the industry at large....
Aug 04, 2021•26 min
S&P Global Platts senior natural gas writer Harry Weber, S&P Global Market Intelligence senior midstream finance reporter Allison Good and Platts managing editor for Americas LNG Luke Stobbart discuss current trends in the North American midstream sector as operators of gas pipelines and LNG export terminals prepare to release financial results for the second quarter of 2021. Investors will be watching for signs that the pickup in commercial activity in recent months is sufficient to sup...
Jul 20, 2021•11 min
US refineries have ramped up production in the second quarter as domestic demand for gasoline and diesel grows and global energy markets begin to adjust back to pre-pandemic demand and production levels. Increasing US Gulf Coast refinery utilization has had an adverse impact to clean and dirty tanker freight in the Americas, however, leaving shipowner earnings at less-than-favorable levels. S&P Global Platts tanker freight editors Catherine Wood, Nicole Baquerizo and Marieke Alsguth, along w...
Jul 09, 2021•16 min
In this episode of the S&P Global Platts Agriculture Focus podcast, the Platts EMEA Agriculture team discusses how the prices of different agricultural commodities, from wheat, corn and rice, to veg oils, sugar and biodiesel, have fared during the coronavirus pandemic and whether we can expect any knock-on effects in the coming months.
Jul 06, 2021•19 min
Cheniere, the biggest exporter of LNG in the US, is working to secure sufficient buyer interest for a proposed mid-scale expansion at its Corpus Christi liquefaction facility in Texas. It is also pursuing initiatives to reduce its carbon footprint at Corpus Christi and at its Sabine Pass export terminal in Louisiana, and give customers more information about the life-cycle emissions of its cargoes. S&P Global Platts senior natural gas writer Harry Weber is joined by Anatol Feygin, Cheniere E...
Jul 02, 2021•26 min
Raw feed materials have seen unprecedented growth in prices, putting a dent in the Asian feedmakers' margins. In this podcast, S&P Global Platts editors Elizabeth Thang, Takmila Shahid, and Ivy Li examine factors impacting the buying patterns of Asian customers, including supply and demand fundamentals, the impact of weather conditions on prices, as well as the current hog farm situation in China.
Jun 30, 2021•12 min
Flows of naphtha from the US Gulf Coast to Asia have reached record highs in May and June, drawn by fresh demand from Asia's steam crackers returning from seasonal maintenance and new units coming online over the second half of June. Though higher refining rates and dampened demand for gasoline in the US have opened wide this normally delicate naphtha arbitrage, tanker owners operating in the Americas have shown resistance to making the trans-Pacific voyage, citing low daily earnings and weak fr...
Jun 29, 2021•14 min
The US Supreme Court's June 25 decision opens the door for further small refinery exemptions. With bearish-for-RIN prices, Janet McGurty and Josh Pedrick of S&P Global Platts talk about what could be on the horizon as the Environmental Protection Agency digests the ruling.
Jun 25, 2021•14 min
It's already become clear which areas of the US power market are likely to face challenges this summer, with alerts and price spikes in Texas and California in recent weeks, where drought, wildfires and other factors have become recurring threats. The S&P Global Platts power news team gives its summer power market outlook, looking at trends around the country with additional insights from Platts Analytics.
Jun 24, 2021•29 min
Tanker and dry bulk shipping freight market for inbound and outbound trade from India has become come expensive due to the lingering COVID-19 pandemic. India is one of the world's largest importers of coal, vegetable oils and crude. It exports substantial volumes of refined products and dry bulk commodities such as iron ore, pellets, steel and salt. Many countries are insisting that ships will be allowed to berth at their ports only if they have not called any Indian ports over the previous two ...
Jun 24, 2021•15 min
New York has one of the most aggressive decarbonization plans in the country through its Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which sets goals for building several gigawatts of renewable energy capacity, including offshore wind, battery storage and the transmission lines to connect those resources with urban demand centers. In this edition of the Platts Commodities Focus podcast, Jared Anderson, senior writer with S&P Global Platts, speaks with Clint Plummer, CEO of Rise Light &a...
Jun 15, 2021•20 min
As piracy attacks grow in the Gulf of Guinea, the industry has banded together to make a statement – enough is enough, and the attack on merchant ships must come to an end. S&P Global Platts speaks to the Head of Maritime Security at BIMCO Jakob Larsen on what has pushed the industry to band together and what the Declaration means for the future of security in the basin.
Jun 08, 2021•17 min
The upcoming federal elections in Mexico, the largest in recent history, are expected to have broad implications across many energy sectors. We spoke with Adrian Duhalt, post-doctorate fellow in energy studies at Rice University in Houston, about the implications for the energy industry.
Jun 01, 2021•14 min
China on May 14 announced that it will implement a consumption tax on mixed aromatics, light cycle oil and bitumen blend from June 12 in an effort to close a loophole in its tax system. This tax is expected to have repercussions not only in the domestic market, but also in the regional refined products market and crude markets. Mixed aromatics and light cycle oil or LCO are used as blend stocks in gasoline and gasoil, and bitumen blend is used as a feedstock by independent refiners. The tax is e...
May 31, 2021•20 min
Prices have been soaring in most of the major steel markets, driven by high demand and insufficient supply. S&P Global Platts Lead Steel Analyst Paul Bartholomew, Associate Pricing Director for Metals Keith Tan, and Managing Editor Laura Varriale examine the factors in play.
May 28, 2021•16 min
