During the long holiday period, international oil prices and natural gas started the “rising” mode. On October 6, New York crude oil futures approached the $80/barrel mark as high as $79.78/barrel, a 7-year high; Brent crude oil futures reached $83.47/barrel, a 3-year high.
The increase in natural gas was even more alarming. On October 5, the Dutch TTF natural gas futures, which is regarded as the wind vane of natural gas prices in Western Europe, soared 22% in one day, closing at 117.9 euros/MWh, a record high, and the increase was nearly 6 times during the year; NYMEX 11 Monthly natural gas futures were reported at US$6.31 per million British heat, a record high since 2008.
The rise in international oil prices is mainly related to the OPEC+ oil-producing countries alliance’s control of crude oil production. On October 4, after the closing of the OPEC+ ministerial meeting, an announcement was issued stating that it will adhere to the production adjustment plan approved by the OPEC+ ministerial meeting on July 18 this year. Increase production to alleviate the supply shortage.
The reasons for the increase in natural gas prices are more complicated. In Europe, natural gas is mainly used for heating and power generation. The demand for natural gas, which is a clean energy source, has further increased. There may be a shortage of supply this winter, and the price of natural gas has risen sharply. The skyrocketing natural gas has further stimulated the rise in crude oil prices.
The skyrocketing energy prices have caused the coal and oil sectors to rise sharply this year. In the Hong Kong stock market, China’s natural gas rose by more than 40% in intraday trading on October 6. Itu “Big Mac” PetroChina still has a cumulative increase of 88% this year, making it the best-performing stock in the Hang Seng Index this year. In the A-share market, PetroChina’s cumulative increase has reached 53% this year, and continues to rise after the holiday; the share prices of many coal stocks have more than doubled.
From a practical point of view, the increase in oil and natural gas prices has brought to our company a series of increases in manufacturing and transportation costs.