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Market Chatter: Kazakhstan Kashagan Oil Field Operator Assets Frozen Over $5 Billion Fine

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Kazakhstan has frozen the assets of the joint-venture operator of the Kashagan oilfield over a $5 billion environmental fine which the company has disputed, Reuters reported on Monday.

The July 21 freeze of the company's property and vehicles of North Caspian Operating was published on the database of the Ministry of Justice, the article said. NCOC is a joint venture between Shell (SHEL), TotalEnergies (TTE), ExxonMobil (XOM) and China's CNPC.

The Central Asian country may enforce a 2.3 trillion Kazakhstani tenge ($4.84 billion) fine imposed on NCOC related to breaches of sulphur storage limits while it has said the head of the company could face criminal prosecution.

NCOC and associated contractors have rejected the fine and the accusations and the case has now been brought before international arbitrators, the article said.

None of the companies responded immediately to Reuters' request for comment.has reached out to the companies seeking comment.

(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)

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Correction: US Natural Gas Prices Post Another Weekly Decline on Bearish Storage Build, Weak LNG Feedgas Flows

(Corrects price direction in the 2nd paragraph.)US natural gas prices ended another week in the red, pressured by a larger-than-expected injection into storage and lower liquefied natural gas feedgas flows.In the futures market, the Nymex front-month August contract closed the week at $2.883 per million British thermal unit, down from $2.916/MMBtu on July 17.Natural gas spot prices rose $0.15/MMBtu to $2.95/MMBtu during the week ended July 22, from $2.80/MMBtu the prior week, according to the US Energy Information Administration's Weekly Gas Storage Supplement, released Thursday.Despite warmer-than-normal temperatures across the country for the second week in a row, total natural gas demand dipped during the week by 0.6 billion cubic feet per day, or 1%, even as gas output remained unchanged at 110.8 Bcf/d during the week.Prices were mixed across most regional hubs, ranging from a $0.54/MMBtu decrease at Algonquin Citygate, which primarily serves the Boston area, to a $0.71/MMBtu increase at the SoCal Border.Western parts of the country reported higher natural gas consumption overall, by 10%, largely due to the heatwave over the past week, according to LSEG data.Total demand was also impaired by low US LNG feedgas flows during the week, which averaged 17.4 Bcf/d, compared to the 30-day moving average of 18.41 Bcf/d, and significantly below the recent peak of 20 Bcf/d reported earlier this year.This was primarily due to the Freeport LNG terminal in Texas entering into planned maintenance starting July 10, and set to last until late August.The net injection into storage for the week ended July 17 was 32 Bcf, down from last week's 41 Bcf, bringing total gas inventories to 3,056 Bcf, according to EIA data.Storage injections were above forecasts, which had expected a net injection of 29 Bcf. This was also above the prior year's 23 Bcf net injection and the five-year average for this period of 30 Bcf, according to data compiled by Investing.com.The East and Midwest regions reported net injections of 17 Bcf, while South Central and Nonsalt reported 2 Bcf and 9 Bcf, respectively.Inventories remained above the five-year average across most regions, with the highest surpluses recorded in the Mountain and Pacific regions at 19% and 6% above their prior-year levels.According to Pinebrook Energy Advisors, this week's storage figures imply "that market fundamentals tightened by nearly 1.5 Bcf per day from the previous week," which it attributed to warmer temperatures and weaker wind power generation during the report period.Weather forecasts continued to point toward above-normal temperatures across most of the country from July 31 through August 06, according to the National Weather Service, leading to elevated space-cooling demand and gas-fired power burn.A total of 34 LNG carriers departed US ports during the week, unchanged from last week, with a combined capacity of 126 Bcf, down 5 Bcf from the prior week.In international markets, European TTF gas prices averaged $19.63/MMBtu for the week ended July 22, $2.39/MMBtu higher than the previous week. Meanwhile, the Japan-Korea Marker averaged $21.05/MMBtu, about $4.43/MMBtu above the prior week.The US gas rig count increased by one from 126 the previous week to 127 in the week ending July 24, according to data from Baker Hughes (BKR) released Friday. That compares with 122 gas rigs in operation a year earlier.The consolidated North American oil and gas rig count, a key early indicator of future production levels, increased by 5 to 791 from 786 the previous week.

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Commodities

US Natural Gas Prices Post Another Weekly Decline on Bearish Storage Build, Weak LNG Feedgas Flows

US natural gas prices ended another week in the red, pressured by a larger-than-expected injection into storage and lower liquefied natural gas feedgas flows.In the futures market, the Nymex front-month August contract closed the week at $2.883 per million British thermal unit, after falling as low as $2.858/MMBtu last Thursday.Natural gas spot prices rose $0.15/MMBtu to $2.95/MMBtu during the week ended July 22, from $2.80/MMBtu the prior week, according to the US Energy Information Administration's Weekly Gas Storage Supplement, released Thursday.Despite warmer-than-normal temperatures across the country for the second week in a row, total natural gas demand dipped during the week by 0.6 billion cubic feet per day, or 1%, even as gas output remained unchanged at 110.8 Bcf/d during the week.Prices were mixed across most regional hubs, ranging from a $0.54/MMBtu decrease at Algonquin Citygate, which primarily serves the Boston area, to a $0.71/MMBtu increase at the SoCal Border.Western parts of the country reported higher natural gas consumption overall, by 10%, largely due to the heatwave over the past week, according to LSEG data.Total demand was also impaired by low US LNG feedgas flows during the week, which averaged 17.4 Bcf/d, compared to the 30-day moving average of 18.41 Bcf/d, and significantly below the recent peak of 20 Bcf/d reported earlier this year.This was primarily due to the Freeport LNG terminal in Texas entering into planned maintenance starting July 10, and set to last until late August.The net injection into storage for the week ended July 17 was 32 Bcf, down from last week's 41 Bcf, bringing total gas inventories to 3,056 Bcf, according to EIA data.Storage injections were above forecasts, which had expected a net injection of 29 Bcf. This was also above the prior year's 23 Bcf net injection and the five-year average for this period of 30 Bcf, according to data compiled by Investing.com.The East and Midwest regions reported net injections of 17 Bcf, while South Central and Nonsalt reported 2 Bcf and 9 Bcf, respectively.Inventories remained above the five-year average across most regions, with the highest surpluses recorded in the Mountain and Pacific regions at 19% and 6% above their prior-year levels.According to Pinebrook Energy Advisors, this week's storage figures imply "that market fundamentals tightened by nearly 1.5 Bcf per day from the previous week," which it attributed to warmer temperatures and weaker wind power generation during the report period.Weather forecasts continued to point toward above-normal temperatures across most of the country from July 31 through August 06, according to the National Weather Service, leading to elevated space-cooling demand and gas-fired power burn.A total of 34 LNG carriers departed US ports during the week, unchanged from last week, with a combined capacity of 126 Bcf, down 5 Bcf from the prior week.In international markets, European TTF gas prices averaged $19.63/MMBtu for the week ended July 22, $2.39/MMBtu higher than the previous week. Meanwhile, the Japan-Korea Marker averaged $21.05/MMBtu, about $4.43/MMBtu above the prior week.The US gas rig count increased by one from 126 the previous week to 127 in the week ending July 24, according to data from Baker Hughes (BKR) released Friday. That compares with 122 gas rigs in operation a year earlier.The consolidated North American oil and gas rig count, a key early indicator of future production levels, increased by 5 to 791 from 786 the previous week.

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Commodities

US Natural Gas Update: Futures Edge Down Amid Abundant Supply

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