MARKET MOVEMENTS:
-- Brent crude oil is up 0.6% at $90.44 a barrel.
-- European benchmark gas is 9.8% higher at EUR35.95 a megawatt
hour.
-- Gold futures are up 0.3% at $1,948.90 a troy ounce.
-- LME three-month copper futures are down 0.8% at $8,236.50 a
metric ton.
-- Wheat futures are down 0.4% to $5.97 a bushel.
TOP STORY:
Chevron Workers Begin Industrial Action at Australian
Natural-Gas Plants
Workers at two large natural-gas plants run by Chevron in
Australia began industrial action Friday, intensifying a dispute
that has rattled global gas markets.
A week of talks between Chevron and staff at its Gorgon and
Wheatstone liquefied-natural-gas facilities had failed to produce
an agreement on issues such as pay. Industrial action had
originally been planned to start on Thursday but was delayed to
allow the talks to continue.
Offshore Alliance, a partnership of two local unions, said the
action had started at 1 p.m. local time in Perth, Western
Australia's capital. It would include work bans and short stoppages
ahead of a two-week walkout starting Sept. 14, it said.
Chevron said it had negotiated in good faith but couldn't accept
the demands sought by representatives of the around 500
workers.
--
OTHER STORIES:
Food Prices Fell in August, But Rice Prices Hit 15-Year High
Food prices fell in August as a strong supply of wheat, corn and
other key foodstuffs helped to lower global food commodity prices,
but risks remain for rice, the cost of which jumped after the
introduction of Indian export restrictions, the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations said Friday.
The UN FAO's food price index, which tracks global prices for a
basket of staple foods, averaged 121.4 points in August, down 2.1%
from July, putting prices 24% lower than the March 2022 peak. The
Rome-based body said that much of the decline was led by lower
dairy and vegetable oil prices helping to ease inflation worries
for policy makers.
That said, the UN FAO highlighted skyrocketing prices for rice,
with its price index up 9.8% during the month--hitting a 15-year
high--following significant trade disruptions after India
introduced a ban on exports for Indica white rice.
--
Offshore Wind Companies Shun U.K. Projects Amid Mounting
Costs
The latest round of the U.K. government's flagship
renewable-energy auction failed to attract any bids for offshore
wind projects, a sign of the mounting pressures on the industry
despite its key role in the energy transition.
The bidding round approved 95 renewable-energy projects, which
marked a record, the U.K. government said, but none were for
offshore or floating wind projects.
That comes as the industry has been battling with surging input
costs that have disrupted projects from Europe to the U.S. In the
U.K., wind turbine makers have warned that the government's offer
of a guaranteed price for the electricity produced by renewable
projects wasn't generous enough to make offshore-wind schemes
financially viable.
--
MARKET TALKS:
Palm Oil Closes Lower Amid High Production and Inventory
1011 GMT - Palm oil edged lower amid bearish momentum among
vegetable oils, following sharply lower soybean oil futures on the
Chicago Board of Trade. The market is under pressure on estimates
of a steep rise in Malaysian palm oil inventory at the end of
August on the back of double-digit growth in production, Anilkumar
Bagani, commodity research head at Sunvin Group, said in a research
note. The Malaysian Palm Oil Association, a group of growers,
estimates that production in August likely climbed 11% on month.
Official supply data will be published by the Malaysian Palm Oil
Board on Monday. The Bursa Malaysia Derivatives contract for
October delivery was MYR6 lower at MYR3,826 a ton.
(sherry.qin@wsj.com)
--
European Natural Gas Price Rises as Australian LNG Strikes
Begin
0818 GMT - European natural gas prices have risen after workers
at two LNG facilities in Australia began strike action. Benchmark
prices jumped in early trading but then pared gains and were last
up 5.7% to EUR34.60 a megawatt hour. They nonetheless remain close
to their lows of recent weeks as concerns about the impending
strike have made the market highly volatile. The strike, taken by
an alliance of unions at two Chevron facilities in Australia, was
planned to start Thursday but was delayed for talks to continue.
The strikes so far are partial stoppages but are planned to
escalate to 24-hour rolling strikes after Sept. 14. The two
facilities account for 7% of global LNG supplies and any strike is
expected to prompt stronger competition for the remaining cargos
between Asian and European consumers. (william.horner@wsj.com)
--
Metals Set For Weekly Loss on China Worries
0752 GMT - Base metals are lower, adding to across the board
weekly losses as China's economic data underwhelms. LME three-month
copper prices decline 0.6% to $8,257 a metric ton and are set for a
weekly loss of 2.8%. Aluminum is also down 0.9% at $2,176.50 a
metric ton, putting it on course for a 2.7% weekly loss. China's
sluggish economy has weighed on hopes for metals demand this week.
China's service sector grew at its slowest pace in eight months,
PMI data showed, while the nation's imports and exports both
dropped. "Industrial metals continue to face headwinds from weak
activity in Mainland China," says BMI Research, in a note.
(william.horner@wsj.com)
--
Oil Set for Weekly Rise on Saudi Supply Cuts
0750 GMT - Oil prices edge lower but are on course for a second
weekly gain after Saudi Arabia and Russia roll over their supply
curbs. Brent crude oil is down 0.3% at $89.64 but set for a weekly
rise of 1.2%. WTI also edges down 0.5% to $86.46 but is on course
for a weekly gain of 1.1%. Saudi Arabia's extension of its one
million barrel-a-day supply cut until the end of the year should
prompt a deficit of more than 1.5 million barrels a day in the
fourth quarter of the year, UBS says in a note. That, coupled with
falling inventories, should push Brent price to $95 a barrel by the
end of the year, the bank says. (william.horner@wsj.com)
--
Global Cocoa Prices to Keep Rising as Supplies Tighten
0545 GMT - Tightening supplies will continue to support cocoa
prices as heavy rains exacerbate concerns about bean quality ahead
of the main harvest across West Africa, says BMI. In Ivory Coast,
the world's No. 1 cocoa grower, excess rainfall has aided the
spread of cocoa swollen shoot virus, which will likely cut output
to 2.2 million tons from the 2.3 million forecast previously. BMI
has revised its cocoa-price projections for the third time this
year, and now expects prices to average $3,100 a ton. That compares
with a June forecast of $2,700. Cocoa markets will likely plunge
into a supply deficit of 92,000 tons, marking the second
consecutive season of deficit, an outcome last seen in 2006-2007
and 2007-2008, BMI notes. (nicholas.bariyo@wsj.com)
Write to Barcelona Editors at barcelonaeditors@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 08, 2023 06:42 ET (10:42 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Chevron (NYSE:CVX)
Gráfico Histórico do Ativo
De Nov 2023 até Dez 2023
Chevron (NYSE:CVX)
Gráfico Histórico do Ativo
De Dez 2022 até Dez 2023