1. The EU Benchmark gas price, Dutch TFF, rose 3.16% last night...

1. The EU Benchmark gas price, Dutch TFF, rose 3.16% last night to close at 47.15 euros- once again, the highest since Nov.2023.

EU Natural Gas TTF - Price - Chart - Historical Data - NewsIf this trend continues (Europe is entering their winter- & elevated demand for power, for heating), thermal coal prices are also, IMO, likely to have significant price rises in the next few months





2. BP & Shell are reducing their (which were once very hyped by these companies, c. 5 years ago, as "the wave of the future") large investments in renewable power. RE is often, in some circs., proving to be simply too expensive, & shareholders do not want significant declines in profits.

This disdain for RE bodes well for the longevity & continuing good profitability of thermal coal (& gas, of course, our main competitor)

Reuters.com R. Bousso 19.11.24 said

"Almost 5 years ago, BP embarked on an ambitious attempt to transform itself from an oil company into a business focused on low-carbon power.

The British company is now trying to return to its roots as a big oil and gas player with a growth story to match rivals, revive its share price and allay investor concerns over future profits.

Rival Shell and Norway's state-controlled Equinor are also scaling back energy transition plans set out earlier this decade.
Their change of direction reflects two major developments - the energy shock from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a drop in profitability for many renewables projects, particularly offshore wind, due to spiralling costs, supply chain issues and technical problems...

BP has also slowed down low-carbon operations, halting 18 early-stage potential hydrogen projects and announcing plans to sellwindand solar operations. It has recently cut its hydrogen team in London by more than half to 40 staff, company sources told Reuters...

Shell CEO Wael Sawan has vowed to take a ruthless approach to improve its performance and returns and close a yawning valuation gap with larger U.S. rivals Exxon Mobil and Chevron...

SKILL SHORTAGE?

Some BP employees wonder whether the company retains enough staff with the experience and skills necessary to reestablish itself as an oil and gas major...

In conversations with Reuters, some employees said they doubted BP has enough reservoir engineers to jump-start oil and gas output growth after it let go of hundreds of the upstream division’s employees since 2020...

Equinor, Europe’s main supplier of natural gas since 2022, haslaunched a review of its low-carbon business, named internally REN Adjust, which included scrapping several early stage projects to focus on more advanced offshore wind projects".

European oil giants step back from renewables path | Reuters