Commodities Focus

Brian Gilvary spent almost a decade as chief financial officer of supermajor BP until he stepped down in June 2020. In an interview with Andy Critchlow and Robert Perkins from S&P Global Platts, Gilvary discusses a broad range of subjects including his career at BP; the challenges of reducing carbon emissions for hydrocarbons producers; living with $40/b crude and how hydrogen can transform the energy system.

Ira Joseph, head of gas and power for Platts Analytics, and Ryan Ouwerkerk, manager of Americas natural gas pricing for S&P Global Platts, take a look at oversupply in global natural gas markets.

What might the US shale investor risk-reward equation look like as the market shows some signs of rebalancing and as lockdowns begin to ease? How long will it take the US shale sector to repair soured investor confidence? Tim Perry, managing director at Credit Suisse, digs into those topics and more with Jeff Mower, director of Americas oil news at S&P Global Platts.

Jared Anderson, Kassia Micek and Manan Ahuja of S&P Global Platts delve into changing power market dynamics as coronavirus-related lockdowns ease in many areas and look ahead to see where market conditions might be headed for the remainder of 2020 and into next year.

Labour shortages have been one of the key problems caused by the coronavirus crisis in the rice market. Robert Beaman talks to senior rice editors Rebecca Li and Peter Storey about how the Indian rice industry and its competitors have coped with access to labour during lockdown and the consequent market disruptions, while Piero Carello considers some of the lessons learnt by the agriculture sector as a result of the crisis.

US Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette joins Chris Newkumet, Washington bureau chief for S&P Global Platts, to discuss the state of America's energy markets -- what we know, where we are, and what's ahead. Topic for discussion include US oil production and exports, new oil price benchmarks, LNG trade flows, the future for US coal, and the ongoing energy transition.

S&P Global Platts journalists discuss European gas, power and carbon market trends going into the third quarter of 2020. The markets saw price support in June as economies began to emerge from coronavirus lockdowns – but any faltering in demand or rebound in gas flows could undermine these trends, as could a modest uptick in French nuclear availability.

The annual acreage report from the US Department of Agriculture saw a 5 million acre drop in corn planting from the Prospective Plantings report at the end of March. The resultant rise in corn prices coupled with low ethanol stocks lifted ethanol prices, the S&P Global Platts benchmark Chicago Argo terminal ethanol price reached its highest level in eight months seven on July 7. Join Sophie Byron, associate pricing director for agriculture in the Americas; Pete Meyer, director of agriculture analytics; and Rafael Savoia, pricing specialist covering Latin American corn, as they discuss what is happening to Americas corn crop and how the Brazil and Argentina export programs are shaping up.

The death of George Floyd in the US on May 25 significantly raised global awareness of racial and cultural issues. Within this environment, giant resources company Rio Tinto attracted opprobrium for the destruction of an indigenous sacred site in Western Australia during the expansion of an iron ore mine. In light of this, how might ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) play a bigger role in resources? Could it impact iron ore supply? What might it mean for the way mining companies are rated? S&P Global Platts Head of News for Asia Mriganka Jaipuriyar discusses these issues with Platts APAC Head of Metals News and Insight Paul Bartholomew, and S&P Global Ratings Associate Director, Corporate Ratings, Minh Hoang.

S&P Global Platts managing editor Laura Varriale talks to steel news editor Annalisa Villa and pricing specialists Amanda Flint and Len Griffin about the state of the European steel industry after lockdowns start to ease across mainland Europe, sparking hope for more industry activity.