IIR's October 23 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
Iran warns Israel to stop war in Gaza or region will 'go out of control'		Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has warned Israel that the Middle East could spiral out of control if it does not stop strikes on Gaza. He said the U.S. was also "to blame" for providing military support to Israel. Hours later, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu warned troops his people were in a battle for their lives and said the war against Hamas was "do or die." Iran supports both Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah. ...."[Hezbollah] will be making the biggest mistake of their lives. And we will hit them with an unimaginable force. It will mean devastation for them and the state of Lebanon," he said. For its part, Hezbollah has declared that it is "fully ready to fight against Israel."	BBC	Two Days Until IIR's Baton Rouge Market Outlook Event!
Oil Prices Forecast: Weaker Amid Israel-Hamas Diplomacy, Eased Supply Concerns		Diplomatic strides in the Israel-Hamas conflict, U.S. sanctions relief on Venezuela ease crude oil supply strains; China cuts back on costly imports. Oil Markets Respond to Israel-Hamas Conflict and Global Supply Factors: Oil prices took a dip on Monday, swayed by hopes of de-escalation in the Israel-Hamas conflict and softened supply pressure. Diplomacy Influences Oil Markets: Over the weekend, diplomatic initiatives aimed at mitigating the Israel-Hamas conflict intensified, particularly with aid convoys entering Gaza from Egypt. Market sentiment also took a hopeful turn as Israel paused a planned ground incursion into northern Gaza for hostage negotiations. China's Role in Global Oil Dynamics: In a separate development, Chinese refiners dipped into their crude stockpiles for September, drawing about 240,000 barrels per day, according to Clyde Russell from Reuters. China, the world's largest crude importer, appears to be trimming back on expensive imports in response to the oil price rally that began in July.	FX Empire	TC Energy, SLB, U.S. Rig Count: Your Daily Energy News
Chevron to buy Hess Corp for $53 billion in all-stock deal		Chevron (CVX.N) agreed to buy U.S. rival Hess (HES.N) for $53 billion in stock in a deal that reflects top U.S. energy companies' drive for oil and gas assets in a world seeking lower-risk future fossil supplies and higher shareholder returns. The proposed deal amps up competition between Chevron, the No. 2 U.S. oil and gas producer, and Exxon, its larger rival. It also makes Chevron a partner with Exxon in Guyana's booming oilfields expected to generate 1.2 million barrels of oil per day by 2027. It follows Exxon's rapid-fire deals since July for top U.S. shale producer Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD.N) and Denbury (DEN.N). Those two, nearly $64 billion combined transactions put Exxon atop U.S. shale and cemented the firm's nascent carbon storage business. The recent deals are a financial flex by U.S. oil and gas companies that kept investing in fossil fuels as European rivals turned their attention to renewable fuels.	Reuters	Kinder Morgan Advances LNG, RNG Projects
Natural Gas Price Forecast - Natural Gas Markets Continue to Search for Buyers		Natural gas markets have drifted a little bit lower during the trading session on Monday, as we continue to see temperatures rise in the United States. Natural Gas Technical Analysis: So-called "Indian Summer" has arrived in the United States, pushing temperatures warmer for the next week or two, and this has shown itself in pricing when it comes to natural gas. This makes a certain amount of sense, but we are also near an area that previously has seen quite a bit of support, so it does make a certain amount of sense that buyers will be lurking underneath. All things being equal, I have no interest in shorting this market, and I do think that given enough time it's likely that the lack of supply in the European Union and of course colder temperatures will both come into the picture to push the market to the upside. This is a seasonal trade, and will of course be pushed by the idea that Russian natural gas is offline, and of course there is a serious lack of supply coming from other places as well.	FX Empire	U.S. to Add More than 16 GW of Gas-Fired Capacity through 2025
Carbon Pricing Efforts Accelerate in Asia		Asia is emerging as the key catalyst for growth in carbon trading, though the region's markets currently cover only a fraction of emissions that account for half the world's total. Indonesia and Japan have launched carbon trading exchanges in the past two months, China - the world's top polluter - is looking to expand its existing scheme from as early as next year, and India is advancing its own preparations. "Asia is the fastest moving region in the world in terms of launching, planning and developing new systems," said Stefano De Clara, head of secretariat at International Carbon Action Partnership. "I wouldn't be surprised if I saw even more systems coming online over the next few years or so."	Time	Seven Hydrogen Hubs Selected to Receive $7 Billion in DOE Funding
Nestle, Volvo among 130 companies urging COP28 agreement to ditch fossil fuels		Companies including Nestle (NESN.S), Unilever (ULVR.L), Mahindra Group and Volvo Cars are urging political leaders to agree to a timeline at the upcoming U.N. climate summit to phase out fossil fuels. The 131 companies, which have nearly $1 trillion in global annual revenues, wrote in a letter published on Monday that attendees at the COP28 summit must commit to reach 100% decarbonised power systems by 2035 for richer economies, and help developing countries financially so they can ditch fossil fuels by 2040 at the latest. "Our businesses are feeling the impacts and cost of increasing extreme weather events resulting from climate change," the companies wrote in the letter, which was coordinated by the non-profit We Mean Business Coalition, which is pushing for greater climate action globally. "To decarbonise the global energy system, we need to ramp up clean energy as fast as we phase out the use and production of fossil fuels," they wrote.	Reuters	IEA: More T&D Needed to Decarbonize Global Electric Systems
Week 10/16/23 - 10/23/23		Will escalation happen in the Middle East is what many in the energy commodity marketplace are asking this week. At the moment, it appears diplomacy is easing tensions with a possible "pause" to Israel's ground invasion of the Gaza strip to allow not only for further hostage negotiations but also for more humanitarian aid to arrive. However, this could be a lull before the storm. Time will tell. It seems Energy Transition decarbonization approaches could lead to another storm as the Americas are doubling down on oil & gas with another large acquisition (Chevron to acquire Hess); whereas Asia is striving to expand its carbon trading efforts. And, this could all "boil over" at COP28 as 130+ companies put "pen to paper" for a timeline to phase out fossil fuels.
*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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