Hello Power Up readers,
Oil and gas prices dipped after reports emerged last week that the United States was brokering a new initiative to end the war in Ukraine. The initial 28-point plan looked like a non-starter for Ukraine, but following weekend talks in Geneva between American and Ukrainian officials, the two sides said they had drafted a “refined peace framework.”
A cessation of Russia’s nearly four-year long full-scale invasion of its western neighbour remains a dim prospect, but Brent crude prices, a bellwether for geopolitical tensions, have lost around 1.5% since the initial reports on November 20.
Yet, curiously, diesel prices have had a much more modest relief rally. Diesel supplies have tightened significantly in recent months as a result of the conflict, and that is unlikely to change any time soon. More on this below.
COP OUT
In what has become a regular feature of the UN’s annual climate conferences, the COP30 summit in Belem on Saturday went into extra-time. Intense negotiations yielded a closing compromise that should boost financing for poor nations coping with global warming, but the deal omitted any mention of the fossil fuels driving the problem.
Host Brazil had hoped to demonstrate global unity in the fight against climate change, particularly in the absence of the United States, by building on the COP28 pledge to shift away from fossil fuels. But instead the talks revealed a deep rift, with the Arab Group of oil producing nations and other countries dependent on fossil fuels opposing any mention of the need to rein in the use of the energy sources responsible for the majority of carbon emissions.
Here is a great summary of the main takeaways.
And here are a few more headlines from recent days:
