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Oil Rises as Ukraine Hits Record Russian Targets; Gas Extends Gains on Record LNG Feedgas

Oil rises as Ukraine strikes disrupt export infrastructure
- The WTI prompt-month contract rose $0.52 to $59.07/Bbl Monday morning (7:45 AM CT)
- Ukraine escalated attacks on Russia’s strategic oil infrastructure in November as the US pushes for a peace deal
- Ukrainian drones struck Russian refineries at least 14 times last month and also targeted oil tankers and loading facilities
- Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) halted loadings after Ukrainian attacks damaged one of its three moorings
  - CPC typically loads from two moorings at once, each with ~800 MBbl/d capacity
  - Mooring 2 is damaged and mooring 3 is in planned maintenance, leaving only mooring 1 available for loadings
OPEC+ reiterates plan to pause output increases in 1Q (Bloomberg)
- Group said the decision reflects expectations for weaker seasonal market conditions
- The pause comes as global supply continues to climb

Regional Market Insights

Updated regularly with the most important market moves and outlooks.

Natural gas is trading slightly higher, extending gains from last week
- On Friday, the January Henry Hub contract gained more than 20c, with prices now trading above $4.85/MMbtu
- According to data from S&P, dry gas production is down to 108 Bcf/d this morning, from record levels of 109.5 Bcf/d last week
- LNG feedgas hit a new record high of 20.22 Bcf/d today, after reaching several new records last week
Golden Pass LNG cargo arrives at Gulf Coast (Bloomberg)
- An LNG tanker is now anchored off the coast of Louisiana, with the shipment to be used to cool down plant equipment ahead of the startup of Golden Pass LNG
- In the weeks following the import of the cargo, gas flows into Golden Pass should begin to ramp up
- Currently, the plant is taking about 9 MMcf/d, but this should rise to a few hundred MMcf/d over the next few months as Train 1 starts up