Oil Prices Extend Slide, Even as Cease-Fire Looks Fragile -- Commodities Roundup

MARKET MOVEMENTS:

--Brent crude oil is down 4.9% to $67.08 a barrel

--European benchmark gas is down 12.2% to 35.57 euros a megawatt-hour

--Gold futures are down 2.2% to $3,318.30 a troy ounce

--LME three-month copper futures are down 0.2% at $9,679.50 a metric ton

TOP STORY:

Oil Prices Extend Slide, Even as Cease-Fire Looks Fragile

Oil prices retreated to levels last seen before Israel's June 13 strike on Iran, after the countries struck a fragile truce.

Brent futures fell nearly 5% to about $67 a barrel, extending Monday's sharp drop. West Texas Intermediate, the North American benchmark, shed about 5% to trade near $65. It had dropped 7.2% Monday after Iran's "measured" response to U.S. bombings.

President Trump announced a cease-fire between Israel and Iran late Monday, but by Tuesday, the truce already looked shaky. Israel accused Iran of firing missiles after the accord was struck, and vowed to "respond with force." In turn, Iran said Israel attacked within half an hour of Trump saying the truce was in effect.

OTHER STORIES:

Oil, Gas Tumble as Israel-Iran Cease-Fire Calms Supply Fears

Oil and gas prices plunged Tuesday after Israel confirmed a cease-fire with Iran, easing fears of a broader conflict in the Middle East and potentially severe disruptions to global energy flows.

In early trade, Brent crude was down 3.6% to $68 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate fell 3.6% to $66.01 a barrel. Both contracts extended steep losses from the prior session, when they erased earlier gains and settled more than 7% lower after Iran's telegraphed attack against a U.S. base in Qatar.

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Iberdrola Names U.S. Business Head Pedro Azagra as New Group CEO

Iberdrola said it appointed Pedro Azagra, a company veteran who most recently led its U.S. business Avangrid, as the group's new chief executive, replacing Armando Martinez.

The Spanish utility company said Tuesday that Azagra will lead the company after three years overseeing its U.S. operations. The group, which has a networks and a renewables business in the U.S. has chosen Azagra at a time when offshore wind projects face political and regulatory scrutiny from the Trump administration.

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Trump Says China Can Buy Oil From Iran

President Trump said China can purchase Iranian oil, despite his administration's imposition of numerous sanctions designed to impede such trade. The U.S. has sanctioned Chinese refineries, port operators and other companies for importing Iranian crude as part of its broader "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran.

"China can now continue to purchase Oil from Iran. Hopefully, they will be purchasing plenty from the U.S., also," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. Roughly 90% of Iranian oil exports go to China. To evade sanctions, some traders have transported Iranian oil to China and other destinations using companies based in Malaysia, China, India and the United Arab Emirates.

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Schlumberger Seeing Greater Uncertainty, Mixed Regional Activity

Schlumberger is facing high levels of uncertainty in the current quarter, prompting mixed activity in certain regions.

"Looking broadly across the energy markets, there has been a lot of uncertainty this quarter, including OPEC+ announcements, tariff negotiations and geopolitical escalations," said Chief Executive Olivier Le Peuch at an energy conference, according to a securities filing.

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Cheniere Boosts Production Outlook on Increased Capacity

Cheniere Energy raised its run-rate liquefied natural gas production outlook by 6 million tons annually, reflecting increased capacity across two of its largest facilities.

The biggest U.S. LNG producer on Tuesday said it now expects an annual run-rate capacity of 60 million to 63 million tons through 2030, up from a prior expectation of 54 million tons to 57 million tons.

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Hunting Completes $68 Million Purchase of Flexible Engineered Solutions

Hunting said it completed the acquisition of Flexible Engineered Solutions for $67.6 million in cash, and that it was reviewing its capital allocation policy after the deal.

The engineering group said the 50 million-pound ($67.6 million) deal would strengthen its growing offshore oil and gas and subsea business. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to earnings in the first full financial year of ownership before transaction associated costs are taken into account, it said.

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Rio Tinto, Hancock to Jointly Invest $1.6 Billion in Hope Downs 2 Project -- Update

SYDNEY--Rio Tinto and the mining business of billionaire Gina Rinehart will together invest $1.6 billion to develop two large iron-ore deposits in Western Australia's Pilbara region.

Rio Tinto said the Hope Downs 2 project, being developed in partnership with Hancock Prospecting, will include two new pits capable of producing a combined 31 million metric tons of iron ore each year. The mines and associated infrastructure are expected to be operational by 2027.

MARKET TALKS:

Coffee Futures Extend Downturn -- Market Talk

1051 ET - ICE coffee futures are continuing a pattern of selling with most-active futures down 3.2% to $3.16 a pound. That's the lowest it's been since early January, according to FactSet data. Coffee rose 3.7% on Monday, breaking a four-session losing streak. Weather in growing areas has been mostly supportive, and a 'soft frost' seen in Brazil this week isn't changing the momentum. "Cooler weather is forecast for some coffee growing areas in Brazil this week, but it is not expected to be enough to induce permanent damage," says ADM Investor Services in a note. ([e-mail])

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Cattle Climbs After Recent Downturn -- Market Talk

1024 ET - CME live cattle futures are higher following declines in recent weeks. The most-active contract has fallen for seven out of the past nine trading sessions. The recent weakness is part of a technical correction for the contract, says Naomi Blohm of Total Farm Marketing in a note. Blohm adds that the question now is if futures resume pushing toward new record highs after this period of relative weakness. "The past 5 times the market has corrected like this over the past year, the correction lasts for a few days, then the uptrend resumes," Blohm notes. Live cattle is up 1%, while lean hogs fall 1.9%. ([e-mail])

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Slide in Energy Prices Hits Grains -- Market Talk

1017 ET - Crude oil futures are down more than 4% in early trading, as President Trump vocally encourages Israel and Iran to stand down in their current conflict. As a result, potential supply issues stemming from a war are being neutralized on the futures market. This is also being felt in grains, as the connection of corn and soybeans to alternative fuels like ethanol and biodiesel make the movement of oil prices important. Corn is up 0.2%, soybeans down 0.8%, wheat down 2.3% in early trading.([e-mail])

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U.S. Natural Gas Futures Grind Lower -- Market Talk

1008 ET - Natural gas futures are down for a third session as market participants look beyond this week's heat wave driving high demand. Ritterbusch says large price swings up and down are likely to continue as the weather takes on greater importance over the summer. "Although production has tapered off slightly this week and exports have slipped, the gas balances currently remain tilted bearish with the supply surplus likely to increase further" with this week's EIA storage report, the firm says. "But from here, we see additional increase in the surplus as limited with a potential significant reduction a high probability if the rest of the summer proves hotter than normal." Nymex natural gas is down 1.8% at $3.630/mmBtu. ([e-mail])

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Traders Look Past Winter Wheat Health Issues -- Market Talk

0944 ET - Winter wheat crops globally appear to struggle with health issues. Prior to this week, CBOT wheat had been on the rise for four out of the previous five sessions, with prices rising roughly 11% in that time according to FactSet data. But they've since given back some of those gains, even after the USDA reported Monday that the U.S. winter wheat crops are well behind their harvesting pace of this time last year. Gains in futures may be partly because of increased wheat expected out of Russia, says Commerzbank in a note. The firm also says that Israel vs. Iran hostilities finding a stopping point may lessen potential supply chain hiccups. But uncertainty remains there, as the idea of a lasting ceasefire between Israel and Iran appears tenuous. ([e-mail])

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Oil Extends Losses As Trump Says China Can Buy Iranian Oil -- Market Talk

0940 ET - Oil futures move deeper into the red after President Trump posts on Truth Social that China can buy oil from Iran. "China can now continue to purchase oil from Iran. Hopefully, they will be purchasing plenty from the U.S., also," Trump says. China is one of the main buyers of Iranian crude, and the U.S. has sanctioned a number of independent Chinese refineries that take the oil. The post follows an Israel-Iran ceasefire announcement that has taken geopolitical risk premium out of the price of oil. WTI is off 4.8% at $65.22 a barrel, and Brent falls 4.7% to $68.10 a barrel. ([e-mail])

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Oil Market Focus to Return to Fundamentals -- Market Talk

0921 ET - While the ceasefire between Israel and Iran is proving fragile, focus in the oil market should turn back to "bearish fundamentals" as long as both sides avoid attacking oil infrastructure or disrupting shipping, David Oxley of Capital Economics says in a note. "The large fall in prices is the result of traders marking down the probability of some of the tail-risks facing global energy markets--particularly the closure of the Strait of Hormuz," he says. With headwinds to Chinese oil demand and additional supply from OPEC+, the firm sees a sizeable surplus developing over the next 18 months. WTI is off 3.8% at $65.93 a barrel, and Brent is down 3.8% at $68.74 a barrel. ([e-mail])

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06-24-25 1124ET