The latest Market Talks covering Energy markets. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.

1803 ET - Citi thinks Karoon Energy's shares could rise over the next 90 days as the company mulls a deal for the floating production storage and offloading vessel at the Bauna field in Brazil. Analyst James Byrne thinks a deal could boost Karoon's net present value and EPS. Eliminating the cost of leasing the vessel would more than offset any increase in depreciation and amortization, Citi says. That's because "the D&A would be spread over a longer period and with a higher resource base, seeing consensus EPS sharply higher in our view," Citi says. Also, the bank expects an update on the Neon deposit's resource. That would be positive as Karoon's stock doesn't appear to include any value for Neon, Citi says. Karoon ended Thursday at A$1.535. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)

1535 ET - Blackstone and engineering company ABB both believe data center development will remain strong, even as DeepSeek's efficient AI model threatens energy demands, executives told analysts during earnings calls. Blackstone COO Jonathan Gray said the company's $80 billion data center lease portfolio could still see demand as lower AI costs bring in more usage and adoption. ABB CEO Morten Wierod said more energy efficiency could lower bottlenecks the company was facing as its data center business grew 15% in 2024. "The lower the cost of [AI], the wider the deployment," Wierod said. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

1519 ET - Oil futures make modest gains heading toward a weekend in which eyes will be on the possibility of the U.S. hitting Mexico and Canada with trade tariffs and the OPEC+ reaction to President Trump's bid to lower prices when the group meets onMonday. "While the market remains jittery amid uncertain geopolitics, especially due to U.S. policy risks, fundamentals should drive a moderating trend for oil prices," analysts at Citi Research say in a note. "President Trump's impact on oil markets is likely to be net bearish, driven by pro-U.S. fossil fuel policy, encouragement of OPEC+ to boost supply, and downside to oil demand due to tariff policy." WTI settles up 0.2% at $72.73 a barrel, andBrent rises 0.4% to $76.87. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1513 ET - Announced deals between U.S. oil-and-gas producers totalled $105 billion last year, according to Enverus, an energy-focused data-analytics company in Austin, Texas. It was the third highest total since Enverus began tracking such data, behind a record $192 billion in 2023 and $108 billion in 2014. The five largest deals announced last year included Ovintiv's sale of oil fields in Utah's Uinta Basin to FourPoint Resources, which is backed by private-equity firms Quantum Capital Group and Kayne Anderson. The $2 billion deal closed this month. Private-equity firms are "likely to accelerate buying activity to reload portfolios after multiple successful exits to public companies," said Andrew Dittmar, a director at Enverus. (luis.garcia@wsj.com; @lhvgarcia)

1459 ET - U.S. natural gas futures lose ground despite a solid 321 Bcf reduction in inventories reported for last week as participants focus more on weather forecasts for the remainder of winter. While natural gas storage flipped to a deficit for the first time in more than two years, "this hasn't inspired buying as traders have preferred to focus on the first week of February being too warm," forecaster NatGasWeather.com says in a note. "However, colder trends the past two days for Feb 8-12 has added demand, and if it were to trend much colder, it might catch the natural gas markets off guard." Nymex natural gas for March delivery, the new front month, settles down 3.9% at $3.047/mmBtu. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1324 ET - Brookfield Infrastructure Partners isn't rattled by Chinese startup DeepSeek's development work. Roberto Marcogliese, head of the company's telecom business in North America, tells investors DeepSeek's training of a new large language model is effectively just a piece of the improvement puzzle. He argues BIP's longer-term positive outlook hasn't changed for data center demand growth. "We're actually very excited by the prospect of having a more cost-effective AI tool, which should accelerate innovation, increase overall demand for AI and their application and ultimately make the technology more widely accessible to everyone." BIP continues to expect strong data center growth. "The capital required to support digitalization is staggering and will continue to create demand for large-scale and flexible capital from infrastructure investors like us." (robb.stewart@wsj.com)

1149 ET - Celestica executives think that DeepSeek's AI may even have a positive effect on its business after the low-cost Chinese AI sent shock waves across the sector earlier in the week. On the earnings call, Celestica execs say that "we believe this new technology has a neutral to positive impact on Celestica's business over the next few years." The company cautioned that it is still analyzing the DeepSeek disclosures, but the executives say that Celestica's own AI business remains well-positioned to ramp up this year and next "regardless of advancements in general purpose large language models." The company reinforced its confidence with upgraded revenue and earnings expectations for 2025. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1104 ET - U.S. natural gas inventories turned to a deficit against the five-year average after one of the largest weekly withdrawals on record. Gas in underground storage fell by 321 billion cubic feet last week to 2,571 Bcf, which was 111 Bcf below the five-year average and 144 Bcf less than a year earlier, the EIA reports. A hefty drawdown was widely expected after last week's frigid weather across much of the country, with analysts in a Wall Street Journal survey predicting a decline of 317 Bcf. The Nymex front month is down 2.6% at $3.088/mmBtu. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

0950 ET - Oil futures are steady with the market starting to wonder how OPEC and its allies may respond to President Trump's call for the group to help lower prices at their meeting next week. OPEC+ has several times extended 2.2 million barrels a day in voluntary output cuts to hold up prices, and is currently scheduled to start unwinding the cuts in April. Participants are also paying attention to commerce nominee Howard Lutnick's comments that crude suppliers Mexico and Canada could avoid threatened 25% import tariffs if they contain fentanyl and migrant flows into the U.S. WTI is up 0.4% at $72.91 a barrel, and Brent is up 0.5% at $76.93.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

0908 ET - U.S. natural gas futures are lower as the front month shifts to March and participants await the EIA's weekly inventory report. Natural gas storage is expected to turn from a surplus to a deficit against the five-year average after last week's Arctic weather boosted heating demand and shut in some production. The market is focused on temperature forecasts for February, which have turned milder while production has been picking up, putting downward pressure on prices. Nymex gas is off 1% at $3.139/mmBtu. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

0656 ET - Severe flooding in Malaysia is fueling uncertainties over LNG flows, keeping European and Asian gas benchmarks elevated, according to Rabobank analysts. "Europe doesn't directly receive any gas from Malaysia," they say. But "if Asian buyers of Malaysian gas suddenly need to look elsewhere for the supply, competition on the already tight global LNG market intensifies further." Fast-depleting inventories and higher demand across Europe are raising the need for more LNG in order to replenish stocks for next winter. EU storage is now 55% full and on track to end the winter at 30%-35%, Rabobank says, but it could easily drop below 30% if LNG supply issues materialize. The European benchmark gas contract, the Dutch TTF, currently trades just shy of 52 euros a megawatt hour--the highest level in 15 months. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)

0552 ET - European natural-gas prices rise in midday trade, extending the previous session's rally as colder weather forecasts and supply disruptions raise market concerns. The benchmark Dutch TTF contract is up 1.9% at 52.03 euros a megawatt-hour, the highest level since October 2023. "LNG export facilities at important suppliers have been experiencing production issues," ANZ Research analysts. "The latest is in Malaysia, where floods are affecting fuel flows. There are also unplanned capacity restrictions that were extended in Norway, Europe's top provider of pipeline gas." Meanwhile, EU storage is currently 55.1% full, below the five-year average of 62% and depleting fast, with heating demand expected to increase over the coming days as temperatures are forecasted to drop. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 30, 2025 18:03 ET (23:03 GMT)

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