Benchmark oil prices are declining on Thursday morning after falling the day before on the news of the postponement of the OPEC+ ministerial meeting and a sharp rise in US stockpiles.
January futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange by 7:06 a.m. fell by $0.98 (1.2%) to $80.98 per barrel. On Wednesday, these contracts dropped by $0.49 to $81.96 per barrel, and during the session reached $78.41 per barrel.
Quotations for January futures for WTI in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) by this time decreased by $0.83 (1.08%) to $76.27 per barrel. At the end of the previous session, they dropped by $0.67 to $77.1 per barrel, the intraday low was $73.79 per barrel.
Market activity was reduced due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States.
On Wednesday, it became known that the OPEC+ ministerial meeting was postponed from November 26 to November 30. The OPEC conference meeting previously scheduled for November 25 has also been postponed to November 30, the organization said.
Bloomberg reported that OPEC+, which had planned a meeting for this weekend, seems to have run into problems as Saudi Arabia expressed dissatisfaction with other member states over production levels.
According to unnamed delegates, as of Wednesday morning, it looked like the OPEC+ conference might be postponed indefinitely. Saudi Arabia, which has been cutting production by an additional 1 million barrels per day since July, was in difficult negotiations with other members over production levels, the delegates said, asking not to be identified because the talks were private.
According to Rystad Energy, in the absence of further production cuts, oil prices will remain around $80 per barrel next year.
The company notes that meetings of the OPEC+ Ministerial Committee have never been postponed for four days. However, an agreement on production cuts will be reached at the upcoming meeting, Rystad expects, while not ruling out the possibility of a deadlock in the negotiations.
Meanwhile, commercial oil stocks in the United States increased by 8.701 million barrels last week, according to the weekly report of the country’s Energy Ministry published the day before. Gasoline inventories for the week ended November 17 increased by 749 thousand barrels, while distillate stocks decreased by 1.018 million barrels.
Experts surveyed by Trading Economics expected an average increase in crude oil stocks by 1.16 million barrels, a decrease in gasoline stocks by 150 thousand barrels and a decrease in distillate stocks by 761 thousand barrels.
Inventories at the Cushing terminal, where NYMEX-traded crude is stored, increased by 858 thousand barrels over the week.
The Union of Dairy Enterprises of Ukraine (UDEP) and the Polish Dairy Chamber call on the governments of both countries to create conditions that would make it impossible to block the Ukrainian-Polish border.
“At a time when Ukraine is forming an outpost on the eastern borders of the European Union to expand the principles of democracy and free market, including with the active support of Poland, the governments of both countries should take the initiative and responsibility for creating conditions that would make such destructive situations impossible. If such situations do arise, the governments should promptly take the necessary measures to resolve them,” the dairy associations said in a statement published on the UMCU website on Wednesday.
According to the dairy associations, the blocking of transport at the border by some Polish organizations jeopardizes full-fledged trade relations between Ukraine and Poland.
The UMCU and the Polish Dairy Chamber emphasized the inadmissibility of extreme measures: if they become systemic, they pose a threat to the development of Ukrainian and Polish companies.
The appeal cites data from the State Customs Service of Ukraine, according to which in January-October 2023, Poland exported almost EUR 5.5 billion worth of goods to Ukraine, including EUR 160 million worth of dairy products.
Maintaining full-fledged trade relations between Ukraine and Poland is equally important for entrepreneurs in both countries, the dairy associations of Ukraine and Poland summarized.
According to Andriy Demchenko, a spokesman for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, as of the morning of November 22, there were about 2,700 trucks on the Ukrainian-Polish border at three checkpoints – Yagodyn-Dorogusk, Krakovets-Korchova, and Rava-Ruska-Krebenne.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has threatened to block all EU aid to Ukraine, as well as the country’s future accession to the bloc, unless EU leaders agree to review their entire strategy for supporting Kyiv, according to a letter to European Council President Charles Michel, Politico reports.
In the letter, Orban said that no decisions on funding Ukraine, opening EU accession talks or further sanctions against Russia can be made until a “strategic discussion” takes place when leaders gather in Brussels in mid-December.
“The European Council should analyze the implementation and effectiveness of our current policy towards Ukraine, including the various assistance programs,” Orban wrote in the letter, which is undated but bears the stamp of his office.
He also questioned why Europe should continue to support Ukraine at a time when the United States, which has provided the bulk of military aid to Kyiv, may not be able to continue funding due to a party deadlock over further support.
“The European Council should have a frank and open discussion about the feasibility of the EU’s strategic goals in Ukraine. Do we think these goals are realistically achievable? Is this strategy sustainable without reliable support from the U.S.? Can we take continued U.S. support for granted? How do we envision the security architecture of Europe after the war,” the letter emphasizes.
Orban also added that “the European Council is not in a position to take key decisions on the proposed security guarantees or additional financial support for Ukraine, to approve further strengthening of the EU sanctions regime or to agree on the future of the enlargement process until a consensus is found on our future strategy towards Ukraine.”
As the newspaper notes, Orban’s letter raises the stakes in the ongoing standoff between Budapest and Brussels, which is withholding EUR13 billion in EU funds from Hungary over concerns that the country is violating EU standards in the area of the rule of law.
Without explicitly stating this, the letter suggests that Budapest may use its veto power to block the disbursement of planned EUR50 billion in aid to Ukraine – funds needed to finance the Ukrainian government while its armed forces fight a full-scale Russian invasion.
In addition to the EUR50 billion, Orban threatens to block the planned EUR500 million in military aid to Ukraine, as well as the start of formal negotiations on Kyiv’s accession to the 27-member union, which the leaders had hoped to approve at the next European Council meeting on December 14 and 15.
According to one EU diplomat, who was granted anonymity to discuss the confidential discussions, Orban “mined” the entire decision-making process on Ukraine as part of a strategy to pressure the European Commission to allocate EUR13 billion to Hungary. The diplomat noted that while in other cases Budapest abstained from voting on key issues and allowed the EU to impose sanctions on Russia, in this case “I don’t see this happening.”
“For Hungary, this is not a matter of neutrality. It is about leverage,” the diplomat said.
Quotes of interbank currency market of Ukraine (UAH for 1 PLN, in 01.09.2023-30.09.2023)
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
One of the largest grain market operators in Ukraine, JV Nibulon LLC (Mykolaiv), has signed an agreement with German agricultural machinery manufacturer HORSCH to purchase 13 seeders for sowing corn, rapeseed and sunflower at the AGRITECHNICA-2023 exhibition in Hannover.
“HORSCH Maestro seed drills are among the best and most technologically advanced on the sowing equipment market. They are convenient and productive, and their high sowing accuracy will allow us to perform operations efficiently and quickly at operating speeds of up to 15 km/h,” the company wrote on Facebook.
Nibulon explained its choice by the constant improvement of the machines by the manufacturer, testing on a production scale, including in Ukraine. In addition, HORSCH has a well-developed service base in Ukraine, which allows it to operate and maintain equipment with minimal downtime.
“We are striving to optimize our production processes and improve the quality and productivity of sowing to a new level,” Nibulon summarized and thanked HORSCH for its cooperation.
As reported, Nibulon also signed an agreement to purchase 29 agricultural machines with German agricultural machinery manufacturer CLAAS at AGRITECHNICA-2023. It is planned that 10 combines, 15 tractors and 4 telescopic loaders will be used for crop production in the 2024 season.
Nibulon JV LLC was established in 1991. Prior to the Russian military invasion, the grain trader had 27 transshipment terminals and crop reception complexes, a one-time storage capacity of 2.25 million tons of agricultural products, a fleet of 83 vessels (including 23 tugs), and owned the Mykolaiv Shipyard.
“Before the war, Nibulon cultivated 82 thousand hectares of land in 12 regions of Ukraine and exported agricultural products to more than 70 countries.
In 2021, the grain trader exported the highest ever 5.64 million tons of agricultural products, reaching record volumes of supplies to foreign markets in August – 0.7 million tons, in the fourth quarter – 1.88 million tons, and in the second half of the year – 3.71 million tons.
Nibulon’s losses from Russia’s full-scale military invasion reached $400 million. The grain trader is currently operating at 30% of capacity and has set up a special unit to clear agricultural land of mines.
Quotes of interbank currency market of Ukraine (UAH for €1, in 01.09.2023-30.09.2023)
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
