Ross McCracken

Latest articles from Ross

• Why Isn’t Winter Pushing LNG Prices Higher?

  Published 13 November 2019 | viewed 14,201 times

  Spot LNG prices in Asia-Pacific are hovering around the $6/MMBtu level at a time when seasonal winter demand usually pushes them higher. The reason is…

• Can Saudi Arabia Hold OPEC+ Together?

  Published 06 November 2019 | viewed 8,422 times

  The descent of choking smog on New Delhi in the last week cannot help but refocus India’s political attention on the contribution of coal-fired plants…

• Are Oil Markets About To Turn?

  Published 30 October 2019 | viewed 23,058 times

  Brent crude climbed back above $62/barrel in intraday trade toward the end of October, before heading back down again, owing to concerns about weak Chinese…

• What Will It Take For Oil Prices To Rise?

  Published 23 October 2019 | viewed 11,779 times

  Economic doom and gloom remain the order of the day, so little wonder that hedge funds and other money managers spent the last week of…

• Why Don’t We Fight Wars Over Carrots?

  Published 16 October 2019 | viewed 5,728 times

  What are the geopolitics of carrots? It’s an odd question to ask, but one posed by veteran oil analyst Professor Paul Stevens at the LNGgc…

• A Long-Term Crisis Looms For Oil

  Published 09 October 2019 | viewed 10,190 times

  The US oil rig count continues to drop, falling by 3 to 710 for the week ending October 4, according to Baker Hughes data. It…

• A Crisis Looms Over U.S. LNG

  Published 02 October 2019 | viewed 9,207 times

  Trade talks between the US and China are expected to resume in October, but US LNG producers can already count the cost of earlier failed…

• The Oil Market’s Achilles Heel

  Published 25 September 2019 | viewed 4,457 times

  Oil prices have fallen back from their immediate highs following the attacks on Saudi Arabian oil processing and production facilities earlier in September. Nerves have…

• Provocation And Response: A Gulf War In The Making?

  Published 18 September 2019 | viewed 5,727 times

  Drone strikes September 14 on Saudi Arabian oil facilities have disrupted 5.7 million b/d of the country’s crude oil and gas production, representing more than…

• Oil Demand Destruction: A Trade War Reality

  Published 11 September 2019 | viewed 5,174 times

  Chinese-US trade figures in August came in well below expectations illustrating the negative impact of the ongoing trade war. Chinese exports to the US in…

• What Is Saudi Arabia’s Best Oil Strategy?

  Published 04 September 2019 | viewed 6,441 times

  There appears to be little appetite amongst OPEC members and Russia for further production cuts, despite the gradual slide in oil prices. Russia is reported…

• Why Shell’s Natural Gas Bet Will Pay Off

  Published 28 August 2019 | viewed 11,838 times

  Anglo-Dutch Shell announced an A$617 million ($418 million) offer for Australia’s ERM Power in August marking another move by the oil and gas major into…

• Electric Vehicles Will Win Big In A Recession

  Published 21 August 2019 | viewed 8,984 times

  The news on vehicle sales is indicative of the growing economic headwinds. Data published by the China Association of Automotive Manufacturers showed auto production down…

• Why Saudi Arabia Needs An Aramco IPO

  Published 14 August 2019 | viewed 9,031 times

  At the start of the year, hopes and expectations were that the US and China would come to a relatively speedy resolution on trade and…

• Oil Price Risk Has Shifted To The Downside

  Published 07 August 2019 | viewed 5,992 times

  The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates July 31 for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis in an effort to keep the US’s…

• The 2020 Elections Are Already Impacting Oil Markets

  Published 31 July 2019 | viewed 8,763 times

  As a major net oil importer, US foreign policy has traditionally reflected the need to protect extended international oil supply chains. Over the last decade,…

• Tricky Times For U.S. LNG Producers

  Published 10 July 2019 | viewed 12,453 times

  A glut of new LNG supply coming on-stream after a relatively warm northern hemisphere winter has seen spot LNG prices plunge, putting a dent in…

• Oil Markets Unbalanced By Brinkmanship

  Published 03 July 2019 | viewed 4,745 times

  OPEC agreed in Vienna that it would roll over its 1.2 million b/d crude oil production cuts for another nine months, which would keep the…

• Why OPEC Wants Oil Below $60

  Published 26 June 2019 | viewed 19,020 times

  In its June oil market report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) revised downward its global oil demand forecast for 2019 for the second consecutive month,…

• The War Risk Premium For Oil Prices

  Published 19 June 2019 | viewed 10,266 times

  Last week’s attacks on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman have ratcheted up tension in the Middle East. Lloyd’s List has reported a tenfold…