Australian LNG

Dalian futures launched out of the blocks this morning but have been falling ever since: Big Iron is down: More ahead in my view.

The war between Big Gas and Australia is heating up fast but it’s not at all clear which side the Do-nothing Government is on.

Dalian is trading flat today: Big Iron is  mixed: We still appear biased lower.

At the AFR, manufacturers are howling: Shell-shocked businesses are reassessing investments and jobs after being slugged by huge increases in their electricity bills driven by the imminent closure of the giant Hazelwood power station combined with hot weather and rising “green” power costs.

Dalian is open and off a couple of percent: Coking coal is up a touch.

The excellent Credit Suisse today offers some deep thinking on the subject of domestic gas  reservation: For many years now we have been talking about the challenges faced by the East Coast gas market.

As the mighty gas gouge threatens the east coast economy, the ironies abound.

Via Reneweconomy: Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull knows a thing or two about energy policy and climate change.

From Gotti today: …we’re really left with only one alternative — the Bowen Basin in Queensland although there is gas in the Northern Territory but that too is being blocked by the Northern Territory administration.

Dalian has opened stable: But Big Iron hasn’t: Perhaps port stocks are upsetting things.

There is no change in the dynamics for the global oil market.

Big iron is off again in Dalian down -1% so far after heavy overnight falls.

The LNG industry flackers have been busy.

The Big Iron rocket is punching skywards again today as Dalian adds another 1% to overnight gains: FMG is powering towards its highest intraday price since the GFC and will presumably break the closing price today: A technician would suggest an $8 target then on to the all time high.

From Credit Suisse comes the following assessment of east coast gas cartelier, Santos: ■ Largely uneventful result Underlying CY16 NPAT came in at US$63m, the top end of a very wide consensus range, but below our ~US$90mn estimate.

From The Australian: Australians are being warned it is no longer “commercially viable” to restart one of the nation’s gas-fired power stations amid a political row over using taxpayer funds to build more coal and gas generators to prevent cuts to household electricity supplies.

Big Iron is firm today as China has announced the suspension of coking coal imports from North Korea.

From the AFR: BlueScope Steel chief executive Paul O’Malley says the energy costs of his booming North Star steel operations in the United States are five to 10 times lower than the firm pays in Australia as he warned of a potential energy catastrophe right across Australian industry.

Via the ABC: East-coast Australia’s domestic gas shortage is crippling some rural businesses, and has prompted one owner to accuse the nation’s politicians of treason.

From The Australian: The nation’s energy market operator is under pressure to fix its ­operations after revealing the key failures that triggered blackouts for 90,000 customers last week, during a heatwave that has escalated a political dispute over ­energy security.

More sanity today from Do-nothing Malcolm.

Dalian is up again today though not at new highs: Big Iron is trailing with FMG now in clear air once more: I personally think that the miners are fairly priced here.