Price movements and fundamentals across major commodities.
Analysis and reporting on commodities such as oil, natural gas, gold, industrial metals, and agricultural products. Focuses on supply-demand dynamics, geopolitical risks, inventory trends, and macro drivers affecting commodity markets.
1,009 total articles
Oil futures rose in early Asian trading after Tehran refuted claims that it had engaged in talks with U.S. officials, creating renewed uncertainty about the trajectory of the conflict and global supply. Prices had plunged the previous session after a U.S. president announced a pause to a planned attack and cited productive conversations with unname…
Chevron CEO Mike Wirth told attendees at S&P Global's CERAWeek in Houston that the oil futures market has not fully priced in the supply disruption arising from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. He said substantial volumes of oil and gas are not flowing into the market, Gulf Arab producers have curtailed exports, and damaged energy infrastructur…
France's Energy Ministry is assessing whether its five oil refineries can boost output to alleviate upward pressure on fuel and diesel prices caused by recent disruptions linked to Iran. The ministry said supply is not at risk but acknowledged market tension, particularly in diesel where prices have risen faster than gasoline. The assessment follow…
BCA Research cautions that the relatively calm performance of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude is deceptive. The firm says recent U.S. measures and market interventions are only temporary mitigants and will not resolve the underlying supply disruptions driven by regional strikes, damage to QatarEnergy's LNG plant, and constrained transit through…
Global markets tumbled as President Trump's 48-hour demand for Iran to re-open the Strait of Hormuz expired, intensifying a Middle East confrontation and driving oil prices sharply higher. Equities across Asia and Europe slid, U.S. Treasury yields rose to multimonth highs, and traditional safe havens such as gold and government bonds failed to abso…
Gold prices dropped markedly in Asian trading on Monday as investor demand for bullion weakened amid renewed fears of persistent inflation and elevated interest rates, even while the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran continued. A weekend escalation in rhetoric - including a 48-hour ultimatum from U.S. leadership over the Strait of Hormuz and Tehran's …
Oil prices swung sharply in early Asian trade but stayed near recent highs after U.S. President Donald Trump issued a 48-hour deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, threatening to "obliterate" critical energy infrastructure if it did not. Iran warned it would retaliate by fully closing the strait and striking energy and water systems in …
Cuban authorities began early restoration work after the national power grid collapsed for the second time within seven days. A failure at a major thermoelectric plant in Nuevitas triggered a cascading outage that left the country's roughly 10 million residents without electricity. Officials say smaller closed circuits have been put in place across…
A rapid escalation in the conflict between the United States and Iran has put energy infrastructure at the centre of threats and counter-threats. A presidential ultimatum demanding that the Strait of Hormuz be fully reopened within 48 hours prompted Tehran to warn it would strike U.S. infrastructure in the Gulf, including energy facilities. The exc…
Academic munitions analysts who reviewed open-source video and commercial satellite imagery concluded with moderate-to-high confidence that the Patriot interceptor involved in the March 9 blast over Mahazza, Sitra, was likely launched from a U.S.-operated battery roughly four miles southwest of the damaged neighborhood. Bahraini authorities and U.S…
Bahrain’s government says a U.S.-made Patriot air defence system intercepted an Iranian drone over the Sitra residential area on March 9, preventing what officials say would have been a deadly strike. The kingdom reported 32 civilians injured from the broader incident and said multiple Iranian drone attacks occurred that day. U.S. Central Command h…
The conflict between Iran and Israel and associated U.S. strikes have disrupted major shipping routes and damaged energy facilities across the Gulf, removing roughly 400 million barrels of oil from circulation and cutting significant liquefied natural gas (LNG) output. The result is a surge in oil and gas prices, widespread conservation measures, a…
The conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran intensified as Israeli forces struck targets in Tehran and Beirut while the U.S. dispatched thousands of Marines and an amphibious assault ship to the Middle East. The fighting has caused significant casualties, closed the Strait of Hormuz to most shipping and driven sharp rises in oil prices,…
JPMorgan Chase & Co strategists led by Fabio Bassi cut their year-end S&P 500 target to 7,200 from 7,500, flagging the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz as a major supply shock. The team warns that prolonged triple-digit crude prices could compress valuation multiples, reduce consensus EPS estimates by 2% to 5%, and raise the probability of …
Georgia's governor has ordered a temporary halt to the state's gas and diesel taxes for two months in response to a sharp rise in fuel costs tied to the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war in Iran. The pause removes 33.3 cents per gallon on gasoline and 37.3 cents per gallon on diesel for 60 days as national prices reach levels not seen since late 2022. Offic…
Iraq has invoked force majeure across oilfields operated by foreign companies after military operations disrupted navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, stopping the bulk of the country’s crude shipments. A ministry letter dated March 17 ordered production shutdowns in affected concession areas, while Basra’s output has been reduced significantly…
Nearly a month after oil first appeared along Mexico's Gulf Coast, coastal communities in Tabasco and Veracruz remain on edge as contamination spans roughly 230 km and an investigation into the spill's origin continues. Fishing and tourism sectors face potential disruptions ahead of the Easter holidays and sea turtle nesting season, while officials…
Retail prices for chocolate Easter goods in the United States are expected to stay high this season even though cocoa futures have plunged more than 70% from a late-2024 peak. Industry purchasing patterns - including advance cocoa buys and use of hedges - mean most Easter chocolate was produced when raw-material costs were still elevated. Some reli…
A Hong Kong-flagged tanker that carried diesel of Russian origin and had been headed for Cuba has changed course to Trinidad and Tobago, according to LSEG ship-tracking data. The diversion comes as Cuba endures widespread power blackouts and limited tanker arrivals this year, while the U.S. Treasury has narrowed a waiver covering sales of Russian-o…
UBS strategists have increased their expected average Brent crude prices for this year and 2027, citing continued hostilities in the Middle East and a pronounced reduction in flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Their updated view reflects a short-term price spike and a sustained risk premium tied to supply uncertainty and inventory restocking.
Citi’s commodities strategy team has shifted to a more bullish stance on Brent crude after a wave of attacks on energy infrastructure across the Middle East. The bank now projects Brent at $110-$120 per barrel if disruptions persist for four to six weeks, and places a 30% probability on a $150 per barrel scenario should damage to supply extend long…
Morgan Stanley raised the probability of inadequate European gas storage refills this summer after confirming sustained damage to two LNG mega-trains at Qatar’s Ras Laffan. The bank moved its base case to a scenario in which TTF reaches €90/MWh over the summer, and now forecasts a 15 Mt global LNG deficit in 2026 alongside a longer-term tightening …
UBS has more than doubled its 2026 European composite refining margin forecast to $14.8 per barrel amid strikes that have removed over 3.5 million barrels per day of refining capacity in the Middle East. The brokerage raised diesel and jet fuel margin estimates materially for the near term, increased earnings and price targets for European refiners…
The recent strikes on Iran's South Pars gas field and subsequent attacks on regional energy infrastructure, including Qatar's Ras Laffan LNG hub, have produced steep moves in physical energy markets and mounting stress across refined product supply chains. Despite dramatic one-day surges in European gas prices and strains on shipping routes through…
Yardeni Research reaffirmed a long-term bullish stance on gold, holding to targets of $6,000 by year-end and $10,000 by 2029. The firm said the outlook is grounded in its 'Roaring 2020s' scenario, where equity gains prompt investors to shift into alternatives such as gold. Yardeni cited ongoing central bank reserve accumulation, resilient Chinese i…
