The site of an old tin mine in Cornwall
Letter from the US: Oil’s tin problem
The history of tin production and prices offers a preview of the future oil market. If correct, $35/bl could become the new normal for crude for several years without further OPEC+ intervention
Tin producers were cosseted for decades through the International Tin Agreement (ITA) between them and consumers. The ITA was one of the commodity price stabilisation programmes that grew out of the 1944 Bretton Woods pact that established the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The agreement included the creation of the International Tin Council to oversee the stabilisation effort. Funds were provided to the council to build buffer stocks that could then be added to or sold off to keep prices stable. The ITA failed spectacularly in 1985 when the ITC did not meet margin calls to cover its positions on the London Metal Exchange as tin prices plummeted by 60%. The oil industr
Also in this section
1 August 2025
A number of companies have filed arbitration claims against Gazprom over non-deliveries of contracted gas or other matters—and won. The next step is to collect the award; this is no easy task but it can be done thanks to an international legal framework under the New York Convention.
1 August 2025
Europe’s refining sector is desperately trying to adapt to a shifting global energy landscape and nowhere is this more apparent than in its largest economy
1 August 2025
The Middle East natural gas playbook is being rewritten. The fuel source offers the region a pathway to a cleaner, sustainable and affordable means of local power, to fasttrack economic development and as a lucrative opportunity to better monetise its energy resources.
31 July 2025
TotalEnergies is an outlier among other majors for remaining committed to low-carbon investments while continuing to replenish and expand its ample oil and gas portfolio, with an appetite for high risk/high return projects.
