WTI $41.07 -83c, Brent $43.31 -98c, Diff -$2.24 -15c, NG $1.78 +10c
By Malcolm Graham-Wood
Oil price
Oil fell around a dollar yesterday for familiar reasons, continued increase in the virus numbers, not just in the USA but elsewhere still led to concerns about demand. Specifically in the US the weekly jobs numbers turned around for the first time for a while as jobless claims rose albeit marginally dampening down equity markets.
Relationships between the USA and China continue to deteriorate and one wonders how Joe Biden will handle the situation…In fact how Joe Biden will handle all sorts of things remain uncertain as he hunkers down hoping that the President will lose the election himself. Whoever is the boss the Sino problem will not go away and it is now affecting the relationship between the UK and China.
Ascent Resources
Ascent has announced this morning that it has formally notified the Government of the Republic of Slovenia of the existence of disputes under the UK-Slovenia bilateral Investment treaty and the Energy Charter Treaty. It is best to quote the company exactly with regard to this to ensure accuracy.
‘In particular, the Government of Slovenia has been notified of the fact that certain actions which have caused considerable harm to the Investors’ investments in Slovenia constitute breaches by the Government of Slovenia of the protections established by the BIT and the ECT, including, inter alia the guarantee that the investments would be accorded fair and equitable treatment and Slovenia’s guarantee that the management, maintenance, use, enjoyment or disposal of the investments would not be impaired by arbitrary, unreasonable or discriminatory measures’.
It seems that increasingly possible that whilst investors continue to sincerely hope that an amicable solution can be found to the present disputes, the quarrel with Slovenia may end up in international arbitration. Having said that things are moving along at Ascent and I am increasingly liking this story as the Special Situations strategy combined with Cuba upside and a near term roll of the dice on a $50m claim in Slovenia plays out.
And finally…
The third and deciding test match between England and the West Indies starts, again in Manchester, this morning. The series stands at 1-1 for the Wisden Trophy which is currently held by the Windies. England have had to reshuffle as Stokes can’t bowl so Anderson and Archer come in for Crawley and Curran so the batsmen all move up one.
Ascot tomorrow sees the return of Enable in the King George, unfortunately only one trainer, viz Aiden O’Brien has been bothered to oppose the Gosden trained superstar in a field of just four runners…
It is the final weekend in the Prem and whilst the top and bottom places in the division are sorted there is much to play for when all teams meet at 3pm on Sunday. At the top there are two Champions League positions up for grabs with three teams chasing them. With the Foxes hosting the Red Devils the home team needs to win which ensures excitement. Chelski are hosting Wolves and only need a point to qualify but Wolves can qualify for the Boropa League if they win…
At the bottom, the Villa, Hornets and the Cherries all have tricky away games pretty much anything could happen.
Source Link https://www.malcysblog.com/2020/07/oil-price-ascent-resources-and-finally/
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Disclaimer: Malcy’s Blog is provided for general information about the international oil and gas industry and the companies that operate within it. It does not constitute investment advice and Malcy does not buy or sell shares, warrants or bonds in any company written about within the blog. Information is taken from publicly available sources and any comment is that of the author who does not take any third party comment in the publication.
