MARKET MOVEMENTS:
--Brent crude oil edged down 0.6% to $82.37 a barrel.
--European benchmark gas fell 3.7% to EUR57.32 a megawatt
hour.
--Gold futures rose 1.4% to $1,970.50 a troy ounce.
--LME copper rose 1.1% to $9,152.50 a metric ton.
--Wheat futures rose 1% to $7.67 a bushel.
TOP STORY:
Shell Posts $41 Billion Profit, Adding to Industry's Record
Haul
Shell PLC became the latest oil giant to post a record annual
profit last year, joining American peers in surging back from early
pandemic losses on soaring energy prices.
Shell's $41.6 billion full-year profit surpassed the
London-based company's previous record of $31.4 billion in 2008,
measured on a net current-cost-of-supplies basis -- a figure
similar to the net income that U.S. oil companies report.
The results bring to more than $132 billion combined profit last
year of the three big majors -- including historic results from
Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. -- reported during the past
week. Their hauls, driven by strong global energy demand, erase
billions of dollars of losses incurred during Covid lockdowns as
global travel and economic activity sputtered.
OTHER STORIES:
Rising Jet-Fuel Costs Threaten to Send Airfares Higher
Airfares have eased from last year's highs. Now a resurgence in
jet-fuel prices is threatening to push them higher again.
Prices for the kerosene-based product have been climbing since
December, propelled by diminished supplies after winter storms shut
down refineries. Swelling demand has also pushed up prices, as
millions of Chinese travelers took to the skies to celebrate the
Lunar New Year and newfound freedom from Covid restrictions.
The global jet-fuel price index maintained by S&P Global is
up 20% since Dec. 7, while prices on the U.S. East Coast are up
about 77%.
---
Honda Sees Future for Hydrogen in Commercial Vehicles
Honda Motor Co. is betting that the spread of hydrogen-powered
commercial vehicles in the U.S. and China will help it turn a
profit in a new business selling fuel-cell systems.
Honda said Thursday that it plans to begin selling fuel-cell
systems--modules that make electricity to power a motor from
hydrogen and air--in the mid-2020s. It targets sales of 60,000
units of the system in 2030, a level by which Senior Managing
Executive Officer Shinji Aoyama said the business should be able to
turn a profit.
---
OMV Shares Fall As 4Q Results Miss Expectations
OMV AG's shares plunged on Thursday on weaker-than-expected
results for the fourth quarter of last year, despite a higher
dividend.
The Austrian oil-and-gas player reported an adjusted net profit
of 700 million euros ($769.3 million) compared with EUR1.02 billion
in the previous year and roughly 4% below a company-compiled
consensus that had it at EUR727 million.
---
Anglo American 4Q Production Rose, Sees Increase in Copper
Output in 2023
Anglo American PLC said Thursday that production in the fourth
quarter rose 10%, boosted by the continuing ramp-up at Peru's
Quellaveco project, which produced more than 80,000 metric tons of
copper.
The FTSE 100 mining company said it expects to produce between
840,000 and 930,000 metric tons of copper in 2023. Copper
production for 2022 was 664,000 metric tons, a 3% rise on 2021's
production.
MARKET TALKS:
Inflation Reduction Act Makes Some U.S. Investments 'Suddenly
Interesting,' Shell CEO Says
1136 GMT - The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act is a boon to
renewable-energy investment that poses "a broad set of
opportunities" in the U.S. for oil giant Shell, the London-based
company's Chief Executive Officer Wael Sawan tells reporters on a
media call Thursday. "We see now opportunities that we were on the
fence on, that are suddenly interesting because of the tax
credits," Sawan says, citing areas including blue-hydrogen
production and carbon-capture technologies. His comments come in
his first quarter as CEO, and as Shell reports record full-year
earnings for 2022, a blowout year for big oil-and-gas companies.
(jenny.strasburg@wsj.com; @jennystrasburg)
---
Wind Developers' Returns Could Be Hurt by Increase in Onshore
Turbines' Average Selling Price
1129 GMT - An increase in the average selling price in the
onshore wind power segment as reported by Siemens Gamesa could hurt
wind developers' returns, according to analysts at RBC Capital
Markets. The Spanish company reported an increase in the average
selling prices of onshore wind turbines of 31.7% to EUR0.88 million
a megawatt in the last 12 months and by 24% to EUR0.95 million/MW
in the first quarter of its fiscal 2023. "We believe this increase
in capex could result in a reduction in returns for onshore wind
developers which is one of the reasons for our underperform rating
on EDP Renovaveis SA and sector perform rating on Acciona Energia,"
the analysts say. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)
---
Palm Oil Prices Fall Amid Weak Export Data
1006 GMT - Crude palm oil prices fell in late Asian trading amid
weak export data and declines in rival oils. Palm oil exports fell
27% on month in January, the latest release from cargo surveyor
AmSpec showed. Weaker prices of soybean oil on the Dalian Commodity
Exchange could also weigh on palm oil, as both are used in similar
products, a Kuala Lumpur-based analyst says. The benchmark Bursa
Malaysia Derivatives contract for April delivery closed MYR65 lower
at MYR3,750 a metric ton. (yiwei.wong@wsj.com)
---
Shell Should Be Wary of Public Backlash to Profit Haul
0955 GMT - Shell needs to be wary of negative public and
political reaction to its announcement of record annual profit, AJ
Bell says. While shareholders will inevitably be pleased, "the
optics aren't great" and will do nothing to quieten demands for
further windfall taxes, Bell says. Legal action that the company is
facing over claims that oil spills have caused pollution in Nigeria
also cast questions over its environmental, social and governance
credentials, Bell says. "Shell needs to be careful--already oil and
gas prices have retreated from their 2022 highs and if it pursues
profit today at the expense of making the business sustainable for
the future, the markets may judge it harshly," Bell's investment
director Russ Mould writes. (philip.waller@wsj.com)
---
Metals Jump Following Fed Meeting
0856 GMT - Metals prices in London jump as the dollar slides
following the Federal Reserve's meeting. Three-month copper on the
London Metals Exchange gains 1% to $9,148 a metric ton, while
aluminum rises 0.8% to $2,624.50. The ICE Dollar Index is down
0.2%, adding to a 0.9% slide on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve
raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point. The
increase was less than in previous meetings, raising hopes that the
central bank was nearing the end of its monetary tightening,
sending the dollar lower. A weaker dollar can boost demand for
dollar-denominated commodities like metals.
(william.horner@wsj.com)
---
Oil Regains Ground as Dollar Weakens
0843 GMT - Oil prices rally modestly after a sharp slump in the
previous session following a strong build in U.S. crude
inventories. Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, gains
0.6% to $83.34 a barrel, while WTI, the U.S. standard, rises 0.7%
to $76.96 a barrel. Crude slumped over 3% Wednesday after U.S. oil
stats showed a 4.1 million barrel build in inventories when
analysts had been forecasting no change in stocks. Oil edges up
following the slump thanks in part to a weaker dollar. The ICE
Dollar index falls 0.2%. (william.horner@wsj.com)
Write to Barcelona Editors at barcelonaeditors@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 02, 2023 07:27 ET (12:27 GMT)
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