March 2020

China is saving about $250mn a day after crude prices crashed this year amid dual demand and supply shocks.

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday unanimously backed a $2 trillion bill aimed at helping unemployed workers and industries hurt by the coronavirus epidemic, as well as providing billions of dollars to buy urgently needed medical equipment.

Aramco plans to supply 12.3 million barrels per day of crude in the next two months, after talks with Russia to deepend OPEC+ output cuts floundered, starting a price war. The company will draw 3 million barrels per day from its stocks, producing 12 million barrels per day.

“First, the outlook for global growth: for 2020 it is negative—a recession at least as bad as during the global financial crisis or worse. But we expect recovery in 2021. To get there, it is paramount to prioritize containment and strengthen health systems—everywhere. The economic impact is and will be severe, but the faster the virus stops, the quicker and stronger the recovery will be.

OMV, which currently owns a 36 percent stake in Borealis, will acquire an additional 39 percent from Mubadala. The transaction value amounts to $4.68 billion and represents the biggest acquisition in OMV’s history and the largest transaction ever for Mubadala.

Brent was trading up 65 cents, or 2.4%, at $27.80 a barrel, WTI rose to a high of $25.24 a barrel

The Senate will vote on the $2-trillion package

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 4.2%, with energy .SXEP, autos .SXAP, insurers .SXIP and financials .SXFP jumping between 5.4% and 6.7%.

European gas stock levels for both January and February 2020 were the highest ever recorded for those months.

Significant volumes of Russian gas currently are transited to Germany via Poland, which are a key revenue generator for the country.