The latest Market Talks covering Energy and Utilities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires at 4:20 ET, 12:20 ET and 16:50 ET.
0746 GMT - Harbour Energy posts a positive first-half update as integration of the LLOG portfolio in the U.S. helps deliver record production, Berenberg analysts write. Production growth coincides with a supportive macroeconomic backdrop that is driving cash flow and cutting net debt, they write. The energy company is also making good progress on longer-term growth projects, especially in Mexico and Argentina, they say. Harbour bought Louisiana-based LLOG Exploration in a $3.2 billion deal last December. Shares rise 3.7% to 241 pence.(adam.whittaker@wsj.com)
0728 GMT - Harbour Energy is delivering operational excellence as first-half earnings demonstrate the benefits of the rapid integration of its U.S. assets, Barclays analyst Lydia Rainforth writes. With conflict in the Middle East pushing oil and gas prices higher, Harbour has upgraded its free cash flow guidance. It has also launched a $250 million buyback for 2026 and has scope for further returns later in the year, she says. Shares rise 3.7% to 241 pence. (adam.whittaker@wsj.com)
0049 GMT - Beach Energy's mini share-price rally over the past month is snuffed out by FY 2027 guidance that misses the mark. Beach falls 3.9% to A$0.855, pitching it back toward nine-year lows. Beach is targeting output of between 19.5 million and 23.0 million barrels of oil equivalent in FY 2027. At the midpoint, that would represent growth of 9.5% on the 19.4 million barrels of oil equivalent produced in FY 2026. Beach also forecast capital expenditure of A$600 million-A$700 million in FY 2027. "Production and cost guidance for FY27 was a modest miss across the board with all costs coming in higher than expectations, and production weaker at the mid-point," says RBC Capital Markets analyst Gordon Ramsay. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
1904 GMT - Oil futures end little changed in a choppy session as Iran says it has agreed with Oman on a shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz, but that safe passage will depend on third parties not obstructing the process, an apparent reference to the U.S. "The deal to open the Strait of Hormuz just got closer to reality," Mizuho's Robert Yawger says in a note. "Perhaps the biggest question is whether Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are on board with the agreement," he adds, noting that IRGC breached the June agreement by shooting at ships in the strait. WTI settles down 0.7% at $75.22 a barrel and Brent inches up 0.1% to $79.45 a barrel. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1845 GMT - U.S. natural gas futures edge up in rangebound trading ahead of the EIA's weekly storage report. Comfortable storage levels, with inventories more than 6% above the five-year average, have kept a lid on prices even with hot summer weather driving power-sector demand for gas. Analysts in a WSJ survey expect a 31 Bcf storage build for last week, which would extend the inventory surplus to 193 Bcf from 185 Bcf the week before. "A result below 30 Bcf could offer prices some support, but an in-line or larger build would reinforce the market's focus on elevated storage as summer demand approaches its seasonal decline," Gelber & Associates says in a note. Nymex natural gas settles up 0.2% at $2.688/mmBtu.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1524 GMT - U.S. commercial crude oil stocks rose by 2.5 million barrels last week, contrary to market expectations for a moderate withdrawal. The increase followed a 7.2 million barrel decline the previous week. "It's a welcome sign for investors worried about an energy crunch. The nerve-racking drawdowns are abating for now," says David Russell of TradeStation in a note. "Oil markets may have a window to stabilize if the Hormuz traffic resumes soon." Crude futures are lower in expectation of an agreement being reached between the U.S. and Iran to reopen the waterway. WTI is off 0.8% at $75.16 a barrel and Brent is off 0.5% to $78.97.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1313 GMT - Oil futures edge up as the market waits to see if an agreement is reached to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. If a deal is made to reopen the waterway, there would likely be a temporary spike in ships leaving again, "but the fact that there is less oil trapped in the Gulf than in June suggests that the exodus will be smaller, and so prices won't fall as far as they did following the first MoU agreement," David Oxley of Capital Economics says in a note. "Meanwhile, getting tankers back in to the Gulf to collect oil and LNG will be key to bringing shut-in oil production in the region back online." WTI is up 0.1% at $75.84 a barrel and Brent is up 0.9% at $80.06. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1253 GMT - Treasury yields are mixed as oil prices edge up. Mideast mediators are working on a temporary fix for the Strait of Hormuz, with the U.S. indicating a deal might be near. ADP says private employers added 44,000 jobs in July versus the WSJ consensus of 75,000. The report comes ahead of Friday's July jobs numbers from the U.S. Labor Department. Economists polled by WSJ expect payrolls of 83,000. Neel Kashkari, president and CEO of the Minneapolis Fed, says on CNBC that "now is the time to start slowly moving" rates up. Kashkari dissented against the FOMC's decision last week to leave rates unchanged, saying he preferred to raise the target rate for fed funds by 0.25 percentage point. The 10-year yield is at 4.62%, down from 4.63% Tuesday. The two-year is 4.21%, up from 4.19%.
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