Commodities Focus

The cold winter had many in the US coal industry hoping for sustained demand increases and higher prices. But as Andrew Moore, managing editor of Platts Coal Trader, explains, prices for Powder River Basin and Central Appalachian coal didn't react quite as expected, and now transportation issues...

Japan is facing the summer power demand peak season without nuclear power for the first time. Stephanie Wilson, Platts managing editor for Asia LNG, and Eriko Amaha, Platts associate editor for Asia LNG, discuss how the Japanese power market is coping with the season's demand; the possibility of...

Platts Darren Stetzel, power markets editor, discusses the evolving Turkish power generation mix as official energy ministry forecasts predict the need for 100 GW of installed generating capacity in Turkey by 2023, up from today's 66.6 GW. Demand is forecast to more than double through to 2023. We...

Natural gas futures and spot traders have little reason to be bullish as colder-than-normal temperatures blanket natural gas burning markets, with one exception: California. Production is still increasing, easing storage woes, and municipally owned utilities are taking advantage of current markets...

Oil companies are swapping acreage in the US to become more efficient and better plan drilling and midstream infrastructure. Starr Spencer, Platts senior editor, oil news, discusses which companies have been swapping land recently, including Chesapeake Energy, which did a swap in Wyoming's Powder...

The bulls are fleeing the North American natural gas market as hopes for a hotter-than-normal summer have disappeared. That leaves the bears in charge with moderate August weather in the forecasts and predictions of five more weeks of above-average storage injections. Also: Appointing a former...

US spot ethylene assessments rose to their highest levels in more than a year earlier in the week, and the tightness in the polyethylene export market hearkens back to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. US petrochemical editors Chris Ferrell and Pavel Pavlov discuss how prices are moving, attempts...

Platts North American natural gas editor Patrick Badgley explains how a mass of arctic air is expected to move across the US this week, and in many places natural gas prices are lower than last year. A surge of production in the Northeast and a slew of pipeline projects could keep prices in these...

Platts' Stuart Elliott, associate editorial director, Europe and Africa oil news and Rosemary Griffin, associate editor, discuss the potential impact of ongoing tension between Russia and the EU over the Ukraine crisis on the South Stream gas pipeline, and the likelihood of further sanctions...

Air conditioners are cranking up across much of the US, but Hurricane Arthur left comfortable temperatures in its wake in other natural gas consuming areas. Platts Gas Daily editors Rodney White, TL Hamilton, Chris Tremulis and Bill Holland talk the futures market, cash prices, what storage...