The latest Market Talks covering Energy markets. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
1920 ET - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the government's push to heavily regulate artificial-intelligence data centers will only apply to new projects. Albanese announced Wednesday that data centers will be required to source their own electrical power and to minimize water usage. "This will be for new proposals. You can't retrofit," he says. Australia has attracted vast data-center investment and community concern is growing rapidly about the potential effects. (james.glynn@wsj.com; @JamesGlynnWSJ)
1917 ET - Ampol's share price hit a two-year high this week as the U.S. and Iran trade new blows, prompting UBS to downgrade the stock to "neutral" from "buy" on valuation grounds. Analyst Tom Allen says Ampol is now trading on a multiple of 9.3x 2027 Ebit. That seems fair value to UBS, which adds it is in line with the historical average. Still, UBS says the re-escalation of the Middle East conflict suggests "upside risk on 2H26 refining Ebitda despite Lytton refinery commencing its 70-day planned maintenance from August 1." UBS raises its price target on Ampol by 16%, to A$36.65/share. Ampol ended Wednesday at A$37.14. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
1850 ET - Santos's 2Q sales revenue likely jumped sharply on quarter, but RBC Capital Markets thinks it will fall short of consensus hopes. RBC pencils in quarterly sales revenue of US$1.515 billion, up 19% on 1Q. The estimate reflects stronger oil prices and contributions from Santos's new Barossa LNG project in Australia and Pikka oil field in Alaska. Still, RBC's forecast is below the US$1.553 billion anticipated by the market. Analyst Gordon Ramsay says the market is too aggressive with its estimates for LNG pricing. He points to a fall in the Japan Crude Cocktail oil price, which is used to index liquefied natural gas contract prices. "Overall, we expect Santos to realize US$11/mmbtu for its produced LNG, due to a higher proportion of contractual LNG pricing," RBC says. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
1843 ET - Woodside Energy's 2Q sales revenue was likely supported by a strong performance from its trading arm during the Middle East crisis. RBC Capital Markets forecasts quarterly revenue of US$3.73 billion, up from US$3.26 billion in 1Q. That's despite downtime at Woodside's Pluto liquefied natural gas plant in Australia. Analyst Gordon Ramsay expects Woodside benefited from higher crude oil prices and Japan-Korea Marker prices for LNG. "This implies trading volumes should be relatively strong for spot LNG cargoes following Qatar LNG project disruption," RBC says. It notes gas hub pricing in 2Q was at a premium to prices of contracted LNG. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
1515 ET - Oil futures end the session a little higher as the U.S. reinstates its Iranian blockade after dropping a plan to charge a 20% fee to cover the cost of protecting ships from other countries moving through the Strait of Hormuz. The 20% proposal looked like the U.S. taking a draconian position on control of the strait to move the Iranians off theirdraconian position, says John Deal, managing director of capital markets at Post Oak Group. "I think both sides are getting pretty weary of this conflict," he says. "The problem now is that we have to find an out where we can say we win, and the Iranians have to have an out where they can also save face and pitch it as a win to their people." WTI settles up 0.3% at $79.60 a barrel and Brent rises 0.3% to $84.95.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1513 ET - U.S. natural gas futures post modest gains for a second straight session with help from a slight warming in the weather outlook. Tomorrow's weekly inventory report from the EIA is expected to show a 44 Bcf injection into storage, according to a Wall Street Journal survey of analysts. That would be the smallest weekly build since the end of March, leaving the inventory surplus over the five-year average at 184 Bcf, practically unchanged from 185 Bcf the week before. Nymex natural gas settles up 0.7% at $2.924/mmBtu. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1414 ET - U.S. oil stock depletion starts to raise concerns with the U.S. and Iran engaged in renewed fighting that's again keeping oil trapped inside the Strait of Hormuz. The EIA reported a 1.7 million barrel decline in commercial crude stocks for last week, as well as a further 3 million barrels released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. "The energy picture continues to tighten, with commercial inventories and the SPR falling again," TradeStation's David Russell says. "We're not in crisis territory, but there's less breathing room at a time of intense global uncertainty." WTI is down 0.3% at $79.11 a barrel and Brent is off 0.2% at $84.55. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1301 ET - Canada's push to accelerate major infrastructure and energy projects could be contributing to increased business confidence, says Carolyn Rogers, the Bank of Canada's No. 2 official. At a press conference, senior BOC officials were asked whether a recent string of major projects the Liberal government is pursuing -- highlighted by a new pipeline connecting Alberta to the Pacific Coast -- changed the central bank's medium-term economic outlook. It will take a long time before [the projects] show up in the hard economic data," Rogers says. She says the faster growth projected in the BOC's quarterly forecast is partly based on improved business confidence about navigating the current economic landscape. "It would be reasonable to think that one of the things contributing to that is some of these larger project announcements," Rogers adds. (paul.vieira@wsj.com; @paulvieira)
1157 ET - Crude futures turn lower as President Trump mixes calls for Iran to negotiate with threats of stepped up military strikes. The U.S. reinstated its blockade of Iranian ships, while abandoning the idea of charging a fee to protect other ships going through the Strait of Hormuz. "While the latest news remains bullish, and sentiment is changing to higher for longer, the market seems reluctant to move sharply higher as any ship movement from the strait could emerge at any time, bringing large oil supplies back to a softer demand market," Dennis Kissler of BOK Financial says in a note. WTI is down 1% at $68.54. Brent is off 1.1% at$83.80 a barrel. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1023 ET - Major markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council end mixed, with Dubai rebounding after two straight declines while Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi extend losses slightly. Dubai's move appears mainly technical after the recent pullback and was supported by improved global sentiment following softer U.S. inflation data, says Mazen Abou Ismail, head of trading desk at FFA Private Bank Dubai. Regional shipping and security risks remain, but investors seem to view them as contained for now. GCC markets remain supported by solid domestic fundamentals, though geopolitical developments remain the key risk, he says. The Dubai Financial Market General Index rises 0.4%, while Abu Dhabi's benchmark index falls 0.2% and Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All Share Index slips 0.1%. (farhan.rafid@wsj.com)
1001 ET - The Japanese yen should recover by the end of next year as the fundamentals remain stacked in the currency's favor, Capital Economics economist John Higgins says in a note. The yen's current weakness is puzzling, he says. The five-year U.S.-Japan sovereign bond yield gap has shifted in the yen's favor, he says. The once significantly positive U.S.-Japan real inflation-adjusted policy rate gap has also evaporated. Japan's terms of trade have improved on a net basis in recent years, even allowing from some re-worsening as the Iran war drives up oil prices, he says. The dollar trades flat at 162.22 yen and Capital Economics expects it to fall to 150.00 by end-2027. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)
0950 ET - U.S. natural gas futures are modestly lower as soft LNG feedgas flows due to terminal maintenance partially offset demand to meet summer cooling needs. Demand remains strong in the coming days due to high pressure over much of the U.S. with highs of upper 80s to 100s, NatGasWeather.com says in a note. But power-sector use has been underperforming this summer as renewables take a greater share of supply, the forecaster adds. "Overall, weather patterns lean to the bullish side, although would be more impressive if it was a little hotter over the East in the 6-15 day period." Nymex natural gas is off 0.9% at $2.878/mmBtu.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 15, 2026 19:20 ET (23:20 GMT)
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