MARKET MOVEMENTS:
–Brent crude oil is up 0.9% at $65.14 a barrel
–European benchmark gas is up 4.5% at 32.87 euros a megawatt-hour
–Gold futures are up 1.2% at $3,955 a troy ounce
–LME three-month copper futures are down 0.4% at $10,662.50 a metric ton
TOP STORY:
Ardian to Buy Irish Utility Energia in Deal Valued at Around $3 Billion
Ardian agreed to buy Energia Group in a deal that values the Irish utility at more than 2.5 billion euros ($2.94 billion) including debt, according to two people familiar with the deal, betting on a power supplier with a strong renewables portfolio and a track record in data centers.
French private-equity firm Ardian agreed to acquire Energia Group from U.S.-based infrastructure investor I Squared Capital, the companies said Monday.
OTHER STORIES:
Ukraine's New Strategy for Keeping the Lights On Through a Winter of War
KYIV, Ukraine-Ukraine's power grid has weathered three winters of Russian bombardment during which engineers patched up substations under missile and drone fire and civilians spent days in the cold and dark as Moscow attempted to sap their resolve.
Now, heading into their fourth winter of war, the country's energy suppliers are banking on a network of massive, U.S.-designed batteries held at top-secret locations to help keep the lights on.
--
How China Secretly Pays Iran for Oil and Avoids U.S. Sanctions
U.S. sanctions make it nearly impossible to pay Iran for its oil. China has figured out how to do it anyway, in an arrangement that has largely been secret.
The hidden funding conduit has deepened economic ties between the two U.S. rivals in defiance of Washington's efforts to isolate Iran.
--
Saudi Arabia Keeps Oil Price to Asia Steady as OPEC+ Adds More Production
Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, kept the November price of its flagship Arab Light crude steady for Asian buyers, as OPEC+ continues to gradually ramp up production.
State-owned oil company Saudi Arabian Oil Co., known as Aramco, set its official selling price for November loadings of Arab Light to Asia at $2.20 a barrel above the Oman/Dubai average. The price is seen as a key indicator of the kingdom's outlook on demand.
--
Adnoc Offers Concessions to End EU Probe of $13.7 Billion Covestro Deal
Abu Dhabi's state oil group offered concessions to the European Union's competition regulator in a bid to end its probe of the company's $13.7 billion bid for German plastics maker Covestro.
A spokesperson for the European Commission said Monday that the companies filed remedies to the regulator as part of its investigation but didn't disclose what they were. An update on the commission website shows the concessions were filed on Thursday.
--
OMV Adjusts Dividend Policy Following Adnoc Deal
OMV adjusted its shareholder distribution policy to reflect its deal with Abu Dhabi's Adnoc to create petrochemical company Borouge Group International.
The Austrian oil-and-gas company said late Friday that the revised policy would ensure its shareholders benefit from BGI's performance. OMV is set to own a 46.94% stake in the company and the deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026.
--
Tariffs Are Making Copper Harder to Get. Recycling It Could be a Quick Fix
Your old smartphones and laptops-collecting dust in a drawer-contain a valuable metal that many companies are desperate to reclaim.
Copper is an essential commodity that fuels electrical equipment-from data centers that power artificial intelligence to electric vehicles. But President Trump's 50% tariff on copper imports is complicating the matter.
--
Rio Tinto to Roll Out Earth 'X-Ray' Tech in Hunt For More Metals, More Cheaply -- Interview
Rio Tinto has signed a five-year deal with Canada's Ideon Technologies to roll out technology that harnesses subatomic particles created by supernova explosions to help find and map deposits rich in minerals faster, cheaper and more accurately.
Under the multimillion-dollar agreement, the world's second-biggest miner by market value will initially adopt Ideon's technology at six sites around the world, said Gary Agnew, Ideon's co-founder and chief executive. That includes at a big U.S. copper mine and within its mammoth iron-ore business in Australia, Rio Tinto's profit engine, he said.
MARKET TALKS:
Goldman Lifts 2026 Copper Price Forecast -- Market Talk
1044 GMT - Goldman Sachs raises its copper price forecast for next year as Freeport's Grasberg outage, a weaker U.S. dollar and interest-rate cuts boost the metal. The U.S. bank projects copper at $10,500 a ton next year, from previous expectations of $10,000. "The price is resetting in a new range of $10,000-$11,000--a range copper has never held for longer than two months--as resource constraints and structural demand growth from critical sectors set a new price floor from 2026 onward," analysts at Goldman say. In afternoon trade, copper futures on the LME fall 0.8% to $10,671 a ton, but are up more than 7% on the month. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)
--
Aluminum Prices to Fall Next Year As Surplus Expands -- Market Talk
1037 GMT - Aluminum prices should be supported through the end of the year but are forecast to fall in 2026 as the supply surplus grows, according to Goldman Sachs. "Despite near-term support, we maintain our view that aluminium prices will decline as the market surplus expands from 400,000 tons in 2025 to 1.5 million-2 million tons in 2026/2027," analysts at the bank say. Inventory builds are expected to accelerate from early 2026, pushing the market into contango--when futures prices of an asset are higher than the spot price--, while rising exports from Indonesia will offset China's production cap. Goldman forecasts LME prices to decline to a low of $2,350 a ton in the fourth quarter of 2026. Aluminum futures on the LME currently trade 0.2% higher to $2,709 a ton. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)
--
Palm Oil Prices Fall, Following Soybean Oil -- Market Talk
1026 GMT - Palm oil closed lower, tracking Friday's weaker soybean oil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade. Palm oil prices could yet rise this week due to market concerns about weak production, Nomura analysts write in a note. Malaysia's palm oil inventory is expected to decline amid soft output and increased demand from India ahead of the festive season, they say. However, if prices of other rival edible oils fall, the sentiment for palm oil could come under pressure this week, they add. The Bursa Malaysia Derivatives contract for December delivery fell 6 ringgit to 4,436 ringgit a ton. (kimberley.kao@wsj.com)
--
Oil Market to Focus on Declining Spare Capacity Amid OPEC+ Production Constraints -- Market Talk
1020 GMT - The oil market's focus is soon expected to turn to declining spare capacity as OPEC+ members face output constraints, says Giovanni Staunovo from UBS. The Swiss bank expects only 60,000-70,000 barrels a day of actual OPEC+ production hitting the market in November--against the pledged 137,000 barrels a day--as some members have to compensate for past overproduction, while others face capacity limitations. "With every monthly addition, market participants will likely start to realize that some group members are maxed out," the strategist says. "So the market focus at some point will quickly shift to declining spare capacity in the oil market." (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)
--
OPEC+ Forecast to Deliver Only Half of November's Planned Output Hike
1010 GMT - Only about half of the pledged OPEC+ supply increase is expected to reach the market, analysts at DNB Carnegie say. The cartel and its allies agreed to a 137,000-barrel-a-day output hike for November, an overall "cautious approach" that mirrors October's production levels. That brings the theoretical cumulative unwind to 274,000 barrels a day over the two-month period. However, "we expect actual barrels to market to continue to underperform headline production quota increases," DNB analysts say. "Saudi, UAE, and Kuwait together hold 46% of the production quota increase for November." In early afternoon trade, Brent crude is up 1.7% to $65.65 a barrel, while WTI rises 1.8% to $61.99 a barrel. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)
--
Oil Market to Focus on Declining Spare Capacity Amid OPEC+ Production Constraints
1020 GMT - The oil market's focus is soon expected to turn to declining spare capacity as OPEC+ members face output constraints, says Giovanni Staunovo from UBS. The Swiss bank expects only 60,000-70,000 barrels a day of actual OPEC+ production hitting the market in November-against the pledged 137,000 barrels a day-as some members have to compensate for past overproduction, while others face capacity limitations. "With every monthly addition, market participants will likely start to realize that some group members are maxed out," the strategist says. "So the market focus at some point will quickly shift to declining spare capacity in the oil market." (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)
--
Gold Tops $3,900 on U.S. Rate-Cut Bets, Government Shutdown Uncertainty -- Market Talk
0758 GMT - Gold prices surge to a fresh record, topping the $3,900 mark on expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates further this year and as the U.S. government shutdown drags on. Futures in New York climb 1.2% to $3,958.20 a troy ounce in early trade after reaching $3,969 earlier in the session. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, markets now price in 95.7% chance of a cut in October and 84.1% possibility of another reduction in December, lending support to non-yielding gold. Meanwhile, the federal government shutdown is casting more uncertainty on the economic outlook, delaying the release of key economic data that the Fed needs to make its next policy decision. Gold has risen 50% this year, bolstered by safe-haven demand amid rising geopolitical tensions, solid central-bank buying and strong ETF inflows. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)
--
Oil Gains After Modest OPEC+ Output Hike
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
October 06, 2025 09:32 ET (13:32 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.