IIR's May 28 Market Scorecard Brings You Breaking Geopolitical News

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Stay current with the latest geopolitical events, and more importantly, instantly connect to how these events may impact you and your business strategies.

Event	MarCon*	IIR Comment	Outlet	IIR News
Global condemnation of deadly Israeli strike on Rafah mounts		Israeli tanks have been seen in central Rafah for the first time, eyewitnesses told CNN, as Israel continues its assault on the city in southern Gaza despite international condemnation. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called an airstrike on a camp for displaced people in Rafah, which killed two senior Hamas officials, a "tragic error." But he said he would not end the war in Gaza until the military's goals were completed. Spain, Norway and Ireland have each officially recognized a Palestinian state, and Slovenia said it was considering taking the same step.	CNN	U.S. Solar Power Growth, Oil & Gas Rig Count: Your Daily Energy News
Ukraine faces its worst crisis since the war began		Summer is just starting in Ukraine, and it is looking dangerous. Ukraine is in its worst crisis since the first few months after Russia's full-scale invasion more than two years ago. Kharkiv, the country's second city, in the high north-east close to Russia, is to all intents and purposes defenceless against air attacks. Ukraine's capacity to defend itself depends on others, on decisions taken by its Western allies that are shaping events here in Kharkiv and other cities, and right along more than 1,000km (621 miles) of front line. The other strategic factor that is changing the course of the war is Russia's ability to learn and adapt on the battlefield. It is configuring attacks to take advantage of Ukrainian weakness, especially in air defences. Its factories are producing more weapons and ammunition than much bigger and more advanced Western economies are doing for Ukraine.	BBC	NOAA Predicts Above-Normal Atlantic Hurricane Activity This Year
Oil steadies as OPEC+ restraint balances interest rate concerns		Global oil prices steadied on Tuesday as the prospect of OPEC+ maintaining oil supply curbs at its June 2 meeting and hopes of strong U.S. summer fuel demand balanced concern about higher-for-longer U.S. interest rates. On Monday, oil rose over 1% in muted trade owing to public holidays in Britain and the U.S., with hopes of strong fuel demand with the start of the U.S. summer driving and vacation season providing support. "Despite the indisputably brighter mood seen in the last two days, interest rate concerns will most plausibly act as a (brake) on further attempts to send oil prices meaningfully higher in the immediate future," said Tamas Varga of broker PVM.	Reuters	U.S. to Sell Gasoline From Strategic Stockpiles
Dollar edges down ahead of data, set for first monthly drop in 2024		The dollar edged down on Tuesday, but remained in tight ranges against peers, ahead of key inflation data from major economies this week that could inform the global interest rate outlook. The greenback was also on the verge of its first monthly decline in 2024. "A backdrop where the Federal Reserve can start cutting rates this year, even in December, is consistent with further dollar weakness," said Athanasios Vamvakidis, global head of forex strategy at BofA, who mentioned some weakness in U.S. economic data and recent stronger than expected figures from the euro zone as the main drivers of the dollar slowdown. He also highlighted that the Fed had pushed back against speculation about possible rate hikes, preventing the dollar from appreciating further.	CNBC	Consumers Not Benefiting from Declining Input Costs for Clean Energy Technologies
Natural Gas Price Forecast - Natural Gas Continues to Find Support		The natural gas markets have found a bit of support underneath, as we continue to try to see whether or not natural gas can continue the overall uptrend. Whether or not we can continue to go higher remains to be seen, but we are getting a stretched market at this point, with a likely correction coming sooner rather than later. With that, it's not a market expecting a huge move to the upside, but there are geopolitical concerns that could come into play.	FX Empire	Coast Guard OKs Nation's First Commercial Hydrogen-Fueled Vessel
New Battery Tech Could Kill Two Major Decarbonization Challenges With One Stone		Two of these tricky problems are the issue of finding a scalable long-term energy storage solution to enable reliance on a 100% renewable energy mix without compromising energy security, and decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors such as heavy-duty trucking, shipping, aviation, iron and steel, and chemicals and petrochemicals. Unlocking the secret to solving these sticky issues has the potential to disrupt the clean energy industry as we know it and put us on track for carbon neutrality, as well as to create new economic sectors with massive potential for rapid growth. A clean energy company accidentally discovered a technology using iron-air batteries that could decarbonize the steel industry. Form Energy's battery purifies iron ore for steelmaking with a low-emission process, potentially replacing high-polluting coking coal. This innovation could significantly reduce emissions across various industries that rely on steel.	OilPrice	Investments Grow in Magnetite Iron Ore Mining
Week 05/20/24 - 05/27/24		Summer is around the corner as Stateside Memorial Day was honored for sacrifices made to defend freedom both home and abroad--a summer which seemingly bodes poorly for those fighting on the frontline in Ukraine as Russia advances west to Kharkiv and elsewhere. Also, a summer which likely will see escalations heat up in the Middle East as more global condemnation of Israel - after their recent strike in Rafah - occurs. Mr. Oil Market is looking to the States' summer driving season to rally fuel demand and bolster market pricing. And, Natty markets are hoping summer heat drives power burn to new heights to erode high inventory levels. So here's to summer being around the corner--a season of expectations but no certainty when it comes to these global energy and economic markets.
*MarCon (Market Condition 1-5, with 5 being the highest impact) indicates directional bias or price effect for the relevant commodity (Oil, Natural Gas, Chemicals, etc.) and is graded by our team of experts here at IIR.

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