COMMODITIES

Global energy markets are on edge as US-Iran tensions rise, potentially causing a $10-$20 surge in oil prices.

The International Energy Agency warned Thursday of plummeting oil stocks even as global growth in demand loses momentum.

British energy group Shell on Wednesday forecast that world demand for liquefied natural gas would jump more than 50 percent by 2040, fuelled by China dumping coal.

Following the UN's COP28 climate talks in oil-fuelled Dubai, the COP29 conference is headed for the historic cradle of oil, Azerbaijan, which is in the midst of a gas boom.

EU agriculture ministers will discuss on Tuesday how to resolve European farmers' growing discontent as Brussels scrambles to address the issue ahead of elections this year.

Declining demand, increased oil production from key oil-producing nations, and geopolitical factors contributed to the downward trend in UK petrol prices.

France is urging its farmers to produce more cut-price meat in a major U-turn on factory farming, with inflation hammering demand for organic pork, beef and chicken.

A 15-year high in rice prices, prompted by top exporter India's restrictions on overseas sales, should be a wake-up call on how climate change can disrupt food supplies, experts say.

Turkey said Monday that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will "soon" visit Russia for talks with Vladimir Putin on reviving a Black Sea grain deal that could be used as a springboard for broader Ukraine peace negotiations.

Anton Moiseyev sat for the third day in the cabin of his lorry, parked by a roadside cafe in Ukraine's southern Odesa region, in a bottleneck triggered by Russia's scrapping of a grain shipping deal.

The world is heading for a record grain harvest in the 2023-2024 season thanks to gains for maize and rice, but the market remains under pressure thanks to El Nino and risks due to the war in Ukraine.

The collapse of the Black Sea export corridor should have little immediate impact but over the medium term create market tension and push up food prices.

Ukraine's ministry of renovation and infrastructure said on Thursday the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain export deal had been halted again because Russia had blocked registration of ships to all Ukrainian ports.

The Group of Seven (G7) coalition will keep a $60 per barrel price cap on seaborne Russian oil, a coalition official said, despite rising global crude prices and calls by some countries for a lower price cap to restrict Moscow's revenues.

The shock reduction will start in May and last until the end of the year.

Oil prices jumped more than $5 a barrel on Monday's open, jolted by a surprise announcement by OPEC+ to cut production further in an effort to support market stability.

Crude prices moved in a narrow range in early Asian trade on Tuesday after rallying in the previous session, with oil markets focused on developments in the banking crisis as well as on supply concerns and indications of strengthening demand.