In stock markets mostly in the red due to the US attack on Iran, energy sectors are benefiting, following the rise in oil and gas prices.
Thus, while thePan-European index Stoxx 600 is down 1,3%, its subindex dedicated to oil and gas is up 2,18% They are clearly on the rise European energy giants, as Shell (+ 2,5%), BP (+1,7%) and the French TotalEnergies (+3,6%). At Piazza Affari Eni earns for example 2,4%, while Italgas almost 2%.
I oil and gas prices, which began to rise over the weekend following the US attack on Iran, are continuing to rise this morning due to the interruption of oil tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and repeated attacks on facilities in the area and on Saudi Arabia's largest refinery. Generally, across the Strait Ships carrying about a fifth of global demand from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Iran, and Kuwait, along with tankers carrying diesel fuel, jet fuel, gasoline, and other products, sail through the Mediterranean.
I diesel futures Ice rose more than 20%, the biggest daily gain since March 2022, while the crude oil in London It traded up about 10%, near $80 a barrel, after previously touching $82. Some analysts aren't ruling out a rise toward $100.
Even the names of the shipping companies have strengthened, as turbulence in the Homuz Strait raises hopes of an increase in freight rates. Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd they earn 4,5% each.
A 30-year-old oil block reopens in Nigeria: Eni and Shell will manage it.
Meanwhile, Nigeria has announced the splitting of the OPL 245 oil block into four new assets to be operated by Eni and Shell, a source told Reuters. OPL 245, one of Nigeria's largest deepwater reserves, had been untapped for nearly three decades due to overlapping lawsuits in multiple countries.
The Nigerian government had signaled for years its desire to find a solution, which had led to the production halt. Initially awarded in 1998 to Malabu, a company linked to former Nigerian oil minister Dan Etete, the license was later sold to Shell and Eni.
I Italian public prosecutors They later claimed that most of the $1,3 billion purchase price for the OPL 245 license was diverted to politicians and intermediaries. The two European energy giants and some of their former and current executives, including Eni's CEO, Claudio Descalzi, they were tried in Italy, but they were all acquitted in 2021, after denying all charges.
