General Thoughts: Most attention remains on crude oil, but ex-US natural gas has made a more consequential move toward multi-year highs, widening regional cost gaps across chemicals, fertilizers, and energy-intensive industries.

Feedstocks & Energy: Record US propane inventories show exports have not overwhelmed domestic supply, while cheaper Asian naphtha is

General Thoughts: Refiners are earning strong returns because fuel supply remains tight, but weak petrochemical demand keeps higher costs and outages from producing a broad recovery in margins.

Feedstocks & Energy: Energy benchmarks moved faster than chemical feedstocks last week, showing that headline energy volatility changed regional cost positions less

General Thoughts: Lower crude should compress cost gaps, but uneven cargo normalization, depleted inventories, and weak affordability will leave margin recovery more regional and slower than spot prices imply.

Feedstocks & Energy: Falling crude should narrow oil-linked crackers’ cost gap relative to USGC ethane, but delayed Asian supply relief should

General Thoughts: July’s feedstock and energy cost increase has survived this week’s pullback, leaving 2H26 earnings dependent on which producers can protect margins without pricing customers out or restoring production too quickly.

Feedstocks & Energy: Despite weakness at the start of the week, Brent remains ~22% above its late-June level,

General Thoughts: Rising input costs are separating price gains from earnings, rewarding refiners and feedstock-advantaged producers as cautious customers delay commitments and higher-cost operators reduce production.

Feedstocks & Energy: South Korea’s reserve review could keep Asian naphtha firmer than cracker margins justify, pushing weaker merchant producers to cut runs before

General Thoughts: Outside the US, higher energy and chemical feedstock costs are slowing downstream price declines, but weak demand and returning production still prevent those gains from producing broad margin recovery.

Feedstocks & Energy: North American ethane and natural gas costs fell last week; Asian naphtha also eased modestly; and

General Thoughts: Global chemical markets are still trying to find a floor as late 2Q26 cost relief brought supply back before demand, logistics, and energy risks stabilized enough to support pricing power.

Feedstocks & Energy: Mixed global feedstock signals last week should not obscure the underappreciated 2H26 risk that crude,

General Thoughts: Market indicators near early-year levels do not mean risks have reset; lower ex-US production costs and working capital positions test routes, timing, and customer urgency as supply returns against weak demand.

Feedstocks & Energy: Oil-linked feedstock relief and ex-US natural gas declines have flattened global chemical cost curves,