ASX cautiously higher; Star down on AML allegations; ACCC drops action against Qube; $200 million in Abacus stock; $A flirts with US74¢; BoE tightens; TerraCom sells a single batch of coal at $300/t.

The sharp drop in oil prices over the past week will be short-lived, investors and analysts predict, forecasting both Brent and WTI crude benchmarks to stay above $100 ($135-$135) for the remainder of the year. dollars) per barrel will remain.

According to a hedge fund manager, oil could even hit $200 a barrel this year.

Extreme prices are not just the preserve of oil and gas. Australian coal producer TerraCom told investors on Friday that it had struck a deal to sell a single batch of coal from its Blair Athol mine in central Queensland for $300 a ton.

Brent crude staged a comeback on Thursday, rising 8.8 percent to $106.64 a barrel after falling more than 25 percent in the previous six sessions. The background was the hope that Ukraine and Russia could reach a diplomatic solution. On Thursday, a Kremlin spokesman said reports of major progress in the negotiations were wrong and oil markets had reacted accordingly.

While there is some uncertainty as to whether Brent can reclaim the 14-year high From the $139 a barrel it briefly hit earlier this month, analysts are expecting oil’s valuations to be structurally higher.

“Our current balance sheets point to continued stock withdrawals for the remainder of 2022 and potentially into 2023,” Martijn Rats, Morgan Stanley’s chief commodity strategist, told clients on Thursday.

Read the full story at afr.com.