Exxon Says Oil and Gas to Remain Top Energy Sources in 2050 — Commodities Roundup

MARKET MOVEMENTS:

--Brent crude oil is up 2.6% to $80.16 a barrel

--European benchmark gas is up 2.2% to EUR37.66 a megawatt-hour

--Gold futures are up 0.25% to $2,552.7 a troy ounce

TOP STORY:

Exxon Says Oil and Gas to Remain Top Energy Sources in 2050

Exxon Mobil says humans will use roughly as much crude oil in 2050 as they do today and that the world isn't on pace to make dramatic emissions reductions needed to stem climate change.

In its annual energy outlook, the Houston-based fossil-fuels producer said it expects carbon emissions to drop for the first time in 2030. But the world will need policy changes, breakthroughs in technology and market solutions if governments want to keep global temperatures on pace to meet the goals of the Paris climate accords set out in 2015.

The company said it believes oil and natural gas will continue to top the world's energy sources a quarter century from now, even as renewable energy grows and coal use falls sharply. But Exxon says passenger cars will consume less fossil fuel and chemical plants will use more oil.

The company expects the world's natural-gas demand to rise 21% by 2050, and oil 2%, with most of that growth in industrial sectors to fuel manufacturing and as chemical feedstock. Meanwhile, it sees consumption of biofuels, solar and wind rising exponentially and coal dropping off 39%.

OTHER STORIES:

Oil Prices Spike as Libya's Eastern Government Plans Shutdown of All Oilfields

Oil prices surged after the government in eastern Libya said it would shut down oil production and halt exports until further notice.

In European afternoon trading Brent crude futures were up 2.7% at $80.24 a barrel, and the U.S. oil gauge, West Texas Intermediate, was up 3.2% at $77.25 a barrel.

The government in Libya's eastern half--which announced the shutdown on Facebook on Monday--has control over the majority of the country's oilfields. It said that it has declared force majeure on all oilfields, ports, institutions and facilities, and stopped the production and export of oil until further notice.

Libya's oil production in July stood at around 1.175 million barrels a day, according to the latest monthly report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

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Canada Adding Tariffs to Imports of Chinese EVs, Steel and Aluminum

OTTAWA--Canada will slap hefty tariffs on imports of Chinese electric vehicles, steel and aluminum, positioning itself with allies including the U.S. to protect domestic manufacturing.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on Monday unveiled a range of measures she said are aimed at leveling the playing field for Canada's EV industry and steel and aluminum producers to protect them from unfair competition from Chinese companies.

From October, Canada will implement a 100% surtax on all Chinese made EVs, including electric and certain hybrid passenger cars, trucks, buses and delivery vans. The impost will be in addition to a "most-favored nation" tariff of 6.1% that is already applied to Chinese-produced EVs imported into Canada.

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Harmony Gold Reports Earnings Jump, Production Beat on Higher Grades, Prices

Harmony Gold Mining beat its production target for fiscal 2024 on higher grades and said earnings jumped on surging gold prices.

The South African miner of the precious metal said Monday that it expects to report earnings per share of at least 72 U.S. cents for the year ended June 30, which would be a 64% increase from fiscal 2023's 44 cents.

Headline earnings per share--a closely-watched metric of South African miners--is expected to more than double to at least 98 cents from 45 cents.

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Gold Fields Names Phillip Murnane as New Finance Chief

South African mining company Gold Fields appointed Phillip Anthony Murnane as its chief financial officer, succeeding Paul Schmidt who stepped down in late April.

The gold miner--one of the top producers worldwide--said Monday that Murnane's start date hasn't been set yet but is expected to be early next year.

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Sinopec's First-Half Net Profit Rose; Revenue Declined

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. reported a rise in its first-half net profit but lower revenue due to a decline in demand for diesel.

Net profit for the first six months ended June rose 1.7% to 35.70 billion yuan, equivalent to $5.01 billion, while revenue fell 1.1% from a year earlier to 1.576 trillion yuan, the Chinese state-owned oil-and-gas major, also known as Sinopec, said Sunday.

Capital expenditure totaled 55.89 billion yuan and was mainly used for crude and natural gas production, it said.

MARKET TALKS:

Corn Futures Lead Grains Lower -- Market Talk

0920 ET - Grain futures are lower pre-market, led by corn as the market digests production estimates from last week's Pro Farmer crop tour. While Pro Farmer's corn projection at 14.979 billion bushels is slightly lower than that of the USDA, "the trade sees this as confirmation of USDA's estimates, since Pro Farmer's corn yield estimates tend to come in below USDA's final estimates about 75% of the time over the past dozen years," Arlan Suderman of StoneX says in a note. "Pro Farmer's corn production number may have given traders a sigh of relief that it wasn't bigger, but it still wasn't small enough to justify sustaining a rally," he adds. Corn is down 1.2%, soybeans are off 0.8% and wheat is 1% lower. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

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Oil Prices Surge as Middle East Conflicts Raise Global Supply Concerns -- Market Talk

1314 GMT - Oil prices soar on escalating Middle East tensions, after Israel and Hezbollah exchanged fire. Brent crude is up 2.6% at $80.20 a barrel, breaking above $80 a barrel for the first time since mid-August, while WTI rises 3.2% to $77.18 a barrel. Concerns are intensifying that the weekend's attacks will deepen and broaden Iran's involvement in the conflict, Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Vivek Dhar says. While market expectations are centered on a potential Iranian response hurting Israel without triggering a wider regional conflict, Israel's response will be equally important, Dhar says in a note. That could include an attack on Iran's oil supply and related infrastructure, risking 3%-4% of global oil supply, Dhar says. Oil futures have further upside given Gaza truce hopes are diminishing and an Iran reprisal attack is on the cards, Dhar adds. (joseph.hoppe@wsj.com)

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Natural Gas Futures Decline On Milder Weather Outlook -- Market Talk

0856 ET - U.S. natural gas futures start the week lower on indications of a pickup in weekend production and loss of heat-driven demand implied in weather forecasts. "The first week of September shed another 4 CDDs [cooling degree days], likely hastening the arrival of the shoulder season across the central and eastern U.S.," Eli Rubin of EBW Analytics says in a note. "Barring a massive forecast shift, the summer cooling season could meet an early end." The Nymex front month is off 2.4% at $1.974/mmBtu. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

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Crude Futures Rise on Middle East Tensions -- Market Talk

0845 ET - Oil futures rise sharply as an exchange of strikes between Israel and Hezbollah raise the geopolitical risk premium in the Middle East, and the rival government in eastern Libya says oil production and exports are being shut down. Prices are adding to gains made Friday after Fed chair Jerome Powell indicated a start to interest-rate cuts in September. "The strength in the market on Friday has carried through to early morning trading today," ING strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey say in a note. The boost from the Israel-Hezbollah exchanges will likely be short-lived "except if Iran were to become more directly involved, as this would raise oil supply risks more meaningfully," they add. WTI is up 2.9% at $77.02 a barrel, and Brent is up 2.7% at $81.17 a barrel. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

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Palm-Oil Prices Rise Amid Stronger Demand Outlook -- Market Talk

1014 GMT - Palm-oil prices closed higher on a stronger demand outlook. Indonesia's government recently said it will implement a biodiesel mandate that would imply more use of palm oil as a fuel and is also weighing a further mandate in early 2025. That's buoyed investors' outlook for palm-oil demand, says Low York Hong, AmInvestment Bank's head of futures broking. Gains in soybean oil also supported CPO prices, he added. The two oils often trade in tandem as they are used in similar products. The Bursa Malaysia Derivatives contract for November delivery ended MYR54 lower at MYR3,921 a ton. (jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)

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Oil Prices Rise on Rising Levant, Libya Concerns -- Market Talk

0820 GMT - Oil prices jump as Middle East tensions intensify. Brent crude rises 1.1% to $79.04 a barrel, while WTI rises 1.2% to $75.75 a barrel. Geopolitics was in focus over the weekend as Israel and Hezbollah exchanged blows in southern Lebanon, while Libya's political situation worsened, Citi analysts say in a note. As Libya's divided elites fight over the central bank's independence and control of oil revenues, the risk of disruption of light, sweet crude oil flows grows, which could boost Brent crude prices into the mid-$80s per barrel, Citi says. Refinery maintenance and OPEC+ extra supply could damp any crude price overshoots, but the hit to differentials between sweet and light crude prices could last longer, Citi adds. The next major move in oil prices will partly depend on Israel and Hezbollah's next actions, analysts add. (joseph.hoppe@wsj.com)

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Gold Futures Rise on Rate Cut Optimism, Weaker Dollar -- Market Talk

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August 26, 2024 11:02 ET (15:02 GMT)

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