In part 2 we explained the potential of more local production & illustrated the need for policy corrections such as building German LNG regasification terminals.
Today, he annouced the start of the construction of 2 regasification terminals for a total capacity of 10bcm, completed within 10 months - a most remarkable outcome if achieved by @BMWK.
Many imbalances remain for the gas to go where it is needed within the EU pipe system.
This is best illustrated with the current divergence of TTF (Netherland Price Hub) versus NBP (UK Price).
At the time of this writing the 2 prices had a $11/MMBtu ($66/boe) difference!
5/n
Looking at the Futures curve of both, the price divergence seems to point towards a "temporary indigestion" of logistical issues as prices converge again in July.
But for some weeks NBP signals that it cannot take on more LNG while gas cannot be exported into EU storages.
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So why can gas not be delivered into the EU?
To explain that, let us first attach the relevant pipeline map of the UK and its interconnectors with the continent and Norwegian gas fields.
Today, mainly the "Interconnector" from Bacton to Zeebrugge in Belgium matters.
7/n
Let's now check UK gas flow balances.
In April the UK exported 2bcm (great) to Zeebrugge but in reality had export capacity for 3.6bcm.
It imported 3.6bcm LNG, 2bcm from Norway & produced 3.2bcm against 4.7bcm demand.
8/n Thx Alex, amazing info for free!
So what is the problem?
The problem is that EU logistics (Belgium, Netherlands or Germany) likely couldn't take in enough gas b/c of some "filter problem".
That led to a temp backlog throughout the system while the UK barely has any storage capacity left!
9/n
In fact, much gas the UK needs in the winter is stored in Germany's massive salt cavities and according to Wood MacKenzie, a consultant.
Most remarkable!
10/n
Russian gas independence aside, the UK is a major gas consumer. Saving on gas storage (yes, it is bad business) is penny wise, pound foolish!
Take March 1st 2018 when the beast of the east (a cold wind) caused NBP to spike to 350p/th as more demand could not be delivered.
11/n
There are storage projects.
But they need to be FID'd or - perhaps - Government sponsored if they cannot meet return requirements the industry needs to justify the upfront investment.
More UK storage will avoid winter price spikes for British consumers (especially once the EU gas crisis is over) and will allow for an even higher capacity utilisation of its local LNG infrastructure. Straightforward!
More concretely, Iran likely enriched some 250kg of HEU stockpiles since 2021. Worse, it also said to adds significant new capacities.
That material so far could quickly be turned into the fuel for the equivalent of 10 bombs, should Iran’s leadership take the political decision to pursue weapons, according to Bloomberg.
Here is my theory how the major incident - a so called blackout - occurred at 12:30 CET today in the power system of Spain & Portugal:
1/n
At the time of the incident, Spain and Portugal operated the grid at very high renewables share of about 66% - i.e solar (55%) and wind (11%; eolica)
2/n
While this isn’t unusual for Spain, it does mean that the grid operates with little inertia (resistance to change) during such time. The grid is therefore vulnerable to external effects…!
On this platform, certain perma bulls keep pushing a bullish crude narrative based on relative U.S. inventories—day after day, for three years now.
Their logic: Total U.S. crude inventories (including the SPR) are at 838 million barrels (orange line), 200 million barrels below the 10-year average → bullish!
Yet, inventories keep falling, and prices remain stuck in a range. Clearly, they are wrong.
1/9 @UrbanKaoboy @Iris62655179 @BrentRuditLeo
The problem with their logic?
a) The U.S. is no longer the marginal importer of crude oil—Asia is (or was).
b) U.S. inventories are artificially high on a 10-year average due to the shale boom, which took off in 2014. Shale growth and Covid distort the data, keeping inventories (ex SPR) elevated. So any 5- or 10-year comparison is meaningless—period.
2/n US Crude Oil Inventory ex SPR
Including SPRs, the picture looks more normalised - but not tight. But does the US really need 700mb of strategic reserves in 2025? I don't think so.
Yesterday, I shared a few thoughts that I’d like to expand on, especially given how volatile the current tariff landscape under this admin has become.
Navigating it isn’t just difficult—it’s nearly impossible to avoid missteps. Hopefully some traders will expand on my thoughts...
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What do we know?
As at 23 March 2025, Comex copper price in New York is trading at 14% premium to LME in London. Buying a tonne of copper in NY costs $11,213 versus 9,842 in London, $1,371 per tonne more than in London.
2/n
Why is that? Because of tariff FEARS, not tariffs.
Traders are hedging future risk of potential tariffs on all forms of the raw material, such as cathodes, concentrates, ores, and even scrap. But there aren't such tariffs in place for copper yet (unlike alumnium).
The current Comex price action in the U.S. is basically a Trump tariff trade mirage and is otherwise as misleading of fundaments as the May 2024 price action of which I warned on multiple occasions.
1/n $/pound
In May 2024 however, U.S. price action was more in synch with London. But it didn't reflect weak Chinese housing & construction fundamentals which has been 15-30% of GLOBAL copper use for the past two decades. Today, U.S. prices trade as if borders close tomorrow.
2/n Comex - LME arb in $/t
Unlike May 2024, copper blue chips like $FCX, however, do not buy the rally. So at least it seems that the equity market understands the tariff aspect of the copper price mirage.
In this episode, we discuss China's 2nd of 5 economic paths it can follow.
This episode will also focus on Xi the leader. To understand Xi means to better understand China's economic path forward.
1/n #China
Can China replace malinvestment with more consumption?
Answer: Maybe a little bit & over a long time frame, but President Xi does not want to focus on this path. Instead, he wants to implement his socialist utopia.
2/n
Yes, China’s rising entrepreneurs were welcomed by the Communist Party for at least two decades. But all of that is in reverse.
Under Xi Jinping, China has moved full circle: from low growth & low freedom in the pre-reform era back towards something similar today.