Oil prices are impacted by demand concerns ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting. European gas futures are volatile and favored by hedge funds due to low inventories and uncertain Russian supply. US gas futures, however, show a bearish trend. Market Movers: Kosmos Energy withdraws from Tullow Oil bid, Phillips66 sells pipeline stake, QatarEnergy expands in Namibia.
Oil prices are under pressure ahead of the next Federal Reserve meeting, with demand concerns continuing to weigh on both WTI and Brent. The huge price volatility of the past couple of months has made European natural gas futures one of the favorite trading instruments of hedge funds as TTF futures continue to trade above 40 per MWh.
The combination of rapidly depleting European gas inventories and a still unclear outlook for Russian pipeline gas into Europe next year have lifted total long positions of institutional investors to almost 500 million MWh equivalent. Whilst the short-term outlook of European gas remains bullish, the risk remains that after the winter scare prices could collapse as hedge funds start to unwind their positions, particularly on the back of new LNG supply into 2026. For comparison, net positioning in Henry Hub US gas futures remains overwhelmingly bearish, with the net shortcoming in just below 80,000 contracts in the week to December 10, the 22nd consecutive week of hedge funds shorting gas. Market Movers - US oil firm Kosmos Energy has reportedly withdrawn from making an offer for fellow Africa-focused producer Tullow Oil, aggravating the latter's decline as its shares fell 44% this year. US refining giant Phillips66 announced it would sell its 25% stake in the Gulf Coast Express Pipeline to ArcLight Capital Partners for $865 million, setting it on course to exceed its asset sale target. QatarEnergy has boosted its presence in Namibia by farming into Chevron's operated license PEL90, acquiring a 27.5% non-operated stake as it already co-owns blocks containing the giant Venus and Graff discoveries. Tuesday, December 17, 2024 ICE Brent continues to trade within a narrow range of $72-74 per barrel as the previous week's slightly bullish sentiment, coming mostly from US and EU sanctions on Russia, has hit another roadbloc
OIL PRICES GAS FUTURES HEDGE FUNDS ENERGY MARKET MARKET MOVERS
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