| Welcome to our guide to the energy and commodities markets powering the global economy. Today, oil strategist Julian Lee looks at the way Moscow and its trading partners in Asia are getting more comfortable using sanctioned tankers. To get this newsletter sent to your inbox, sign up here. Western sanctions targeting the tankers used to ship Russia’s oil aren’t working. Moscow has called the bluff of authorities in Washington, London and Brussels, and shown their hands to be empty. Since the start of August, at least 12 cargoes of Russian crude or refined products have been loaded onto blacklisted tankers. The rate at which those vessels are being brought back into operation is accelerating. Any earlier wariness on the part of Russia’s customers to accept the fleet in their ports appears to have dissipated after the successful delivery of cargoes on the first voyages between April and July. Until then, buyers of Russian oil worried about repercussions, such as losing access to Western financial systems, for dealing with sanctioned entities. But when no action was taken against purchasers of the first cargoes, those fears waned. At the same time, operators have abandoned the earlier practices used to try to conceal their activities. The first shipments on sanctioned tankers involved long periods during which vessels were invisible to automated tracking systems, multiple cargo transfers at sea and ships either hiding or falsifying their positions. The most recent deliveries have been made openly, with the tankers sending clear location signals throughout their voyages. That’s dramatically shortened travel time and, presumably, greatly reduced the cost. The first consignment using the tanker Bratsk took 84 days. The second was completed in just 36. The blacklisted ships don’t call at Western ports, don’t use Western services such as insurance or finance and are owned by companies similarly insulated from potential penalties. Buyers in China and India are much more exposed. Unless the penalties start to bite, they are nothing more than fig leaves to hide the impotence of Western governments in hampering the activities of the Russian shadow fleet. --Julian Lee, Bloomberg News US air travel has recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic and is hitting new heights. That rebound isn’t driving a similar surge in jet fuel use, however. June passenger numbers on all flights from domestic airports rose against the 2019 average for the month. But fuel demand remains below pre-pandemic levels, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Oil was on track for the biggest weekly advance since February following a steep interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve, while traders monitored Middle East tensions. Meanwhile, America’s fossil-fuel boom got a surprising endorsement. Thames Water is working with creditors to avoid running out of money. The UK’s biggest water and sewage company is exploring options to delay a cash crunch, including the release of reserves. State Street Corp., Vanguard Group and BlackRock Inc. — the biggest US money managers — slashed support for environmental and social shareholder proposals amid a Republican-led backlash against sustainable investing. Copper miners are in a deals frenzy, as the prospect of rising demand for the energy-transition metal prompts hefty takeover bids. But all that buying masks the fact that the hunt for new deposits is falling short. Japan may still be grappling with the far-reaching consequences of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, but the politicians vying to be its next leader agree on one thing: the country needs more atomic power. -
The UK is the first nation to map and estimate the amount of carbon stored in all of its seabed habitats, a milestone that could influence marine policy around the world, the Blue Carbon Mapping Project says. -
The majority of oil and gas companies have yet to sign any methane abatement pledges, and most fossil fuel-related methane emissions fall outside the scope of those plans, Wood Mackenzie senior analyst Stephen Vogado writes. - The US Department of Energy has about $100 billion to spend on clean energy and grid development projects. David Crane, the under secretary for infrastructure, joins the Columbia Energy Exchange podcast to unpack the numbers.
| 
