Hurricane Milton set for late Wednesday landfall

Market: Crude oil, Natural gas
08/10/24

Hurricane Milton is expected to come ashore on Florida's Gulf coast near Tampa Bay late Wednesday, bringing life-threatening storm surge and destructive winds that have already spurred widespread evacuation orders.

US president Joe Biden warned Milton could be one of the worst storms to hit Florida in 100 years, as he urged residents under evacuation orders to act without delay. "It's a matter of life and death," he said today.

The storm was located about 520 miles southwest of Tampa at 2pm ET today, with maximum sustained winds of 155mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. Storm surge is expected to range from 10-15 feet along the Florida coast from north of Tampa to Englewood.

The fall-out for offshore oil and gas production in the US Gulf of Mexico appears limited given the forecast track takes Milton far south of most platforms.

Mexican state oil company Pemex said its ports in the Gulf of Mexico stopped operations over the last 24 hours as Milton passed north of the Yucatan Peninsula, but the company did not report on the status of offshore production.

Milton is expected to pick up speed as it turns toward the northeast later today, with the center forecast to move across the eastern Gulf of Mexico and approach the west-central coast of Florida through Wednesday. Landfall is expected on Wednesday night before Milton sweeps across central Florida.

"While fluctuations in intensity are expected, Milton is forecast to remain an extremely dangerous hurricane through landfall in Florida," the center said.

Florida officials are dispatching previously stockpiled fuel to retail stations throughout the state as hundreds of thousands of residents flee the western coast. Ports and terminals on Florida's Gulf coast from Tampa to Fort Myers Beach closed at 8am ET today as a precaution.

Chevron previously evacuated and shut in its Blind Faith oil and gas production platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The 65,000 b/d platform is located around 160 miles southeast of New Orleans. Crude production from Blind Faith feeds into South Louisiana Intermediate crude slate, which is not actively traded in the spot market but is typically priced using Heavy Louisiana Sweet.

Shell, BP and ExxonMobil all said there has been no impact to their drilling or production in the Gulf of Mexico, although the companies continue to monitor the hurricane.

By Stephen Cunningham

Hurricane Milton projected path

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Bangladesh’s spot LNG purchases spike on power demand

14/11/24

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14/11/24

Bangladesh’s spot LNG purchases spike on power demand

Mumbai, 14 November (Argus) — Spot LNG imports into Bangladesh have spiked just three months into the interim government of Muhammad Yunus. The interest upsurge is the largest seen so far, and is made more compelling particularly with spot prices well above $13/mn Btu, which has sidelined even key importers such as India and China. The rise in LNG imports comes on the back of Bangladesh's power market struggling to meet electricity supply owing to unpaid power bills under the previous prime minister Sheikh Hasina's government earlier this year. Bangladesh's power generation currently has stabilised after experiencing a sharp downturn in August when the former prime minister resigned. Maximum power generation so far this month stands at an average of 12.5GW, up by 6pc on the year (s ee graph ). Bangladesh's Rupantarita Prakritik Gas (RPGCL), operating under state-owned oil and gas firm Petrobangla, is the sole LNG importer in the country. 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While some of the RPGCL tenders have gone unawarded in recent months owing to insufficient offers, a few of the recent tenders were heard to be awarded despite attracting just two offers, in an attempt to implement the PPR-2008 rules, according to sources with knowledge of the matter. While it is still uncertain if RPGCL would be able to garner interest from more LNG sellers across the globe at a time when it is getting back on its feet to establish strong and transparent governance, it remains to be seen if more portfolio players would want to show their willingness to support a country that is likely to be hungry for gas for decades to come as their domestic production remains weak. Gas output Bangladesh's gas production including LNG stands at 2,868mn ft³/d (29.5bn m³/yr) as of 13 November, data from Petrobangla show. There was no figure available for the same period last year for comparison. 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IEA sees wider oil market surplus next year

14/11/24

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14/11/24

IEA sees wider oil market surplus next year

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Cop: Argentina pulls delegation from Baku

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13/11/24

Cop: Argentina pulls delegation from Baku

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No sign of peak in CO2 from fossil fuels: Report

13/11/24

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13/11/24

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