More Content, More Context

Announcing a new kind of commodity market data and analysis service

Rory Johnston

May 2, 2022

Bit about me—the man behind the charts

Hi, I’m Rory. I haven’t had a chance to introduce myself here, so those of who you don’t follow me on Twitter might wonder just who it is writing these commodity market explainers.

I’m a Canadian commodity market analyst, with both a knack for digging up (and reconciling—oh, so much reconciling…) disparate industry data and an obsession with telling market stories through charts. I’ve been writing about energy and metals markets for a decade, including 6 years as Commodity Economist at Scotiabank. But my enduring passion and current focus is oil & gas—and oh what a time!

Now that we’re properly introduced, I want to take a moment to thank you for reading. I started Commodity Context last summer as an experiment: did market followers want data-driven and chart-forward commodity commentary (or was I on my own)? And you all showed up in a big way. Just 10 months in, more than 6,700 of you have signed up for my email list and my pieces often welcome over 10,000 sets of eyeballs.

But I’ve only just scratched the surface of the types of analysis and services I want to offer you.

Numbers, Narrative, Nuance

I am tremendously excited to announce the formal launch of Commodity Context, a new kind of commodity market data and analysis service that provides numbers, narrative, and nuance straight to your inbox.

Subscribing to Commodity Context will gain you access to my ongoing chart-heavy and context-focused posts that you’ve come to know and love, which I will carry on at my typical pace of at least two original pieces of research per month. Some of my (and your!) favourites includes:

In addition, I am very pleased to showcase my original oil market database through a monthly series that I'm calling the Commodity Context Data Decks (because I obviously have a chronic affinity for alliteration). The Data Decks are data- and visualization-heavy PDF reports that capture the broad spectrum of my unique and extensive Global and North American oil market datasets, which I will be constantly growing and refining. The first Global Oil Market Data Deck will be published in mid-May (see top image) and will be my first piece of fully-paywalled content—but I assure you it’s worth it!

I’ll also continue to provide ‘Quick Context’ as I see necessary in response to major headlines and global events. (e.g., here, and here)

And this is just where it will start. I have so much more that I want to build for you—both in terms of my Global and North American oil market datasets (company-level data inbound), but also additional commodities (stay tuned for the natural gas dataset coming this fall) and products (transparent forecasts! And do we really need another podcast?).

Accessible, Affordable

For individual subscribers, Commodity Context will be $50/month or $500/year (two months free!). The paywall is now active and I encourage you to subscribe below.

I’ve managed many commodity data and research subscriptions over the years—they’re bulky, business-to-business, and lock you in to multi-year contracts. And they’re expensive: good research and clean data can easily cost tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

I have a vision for something different. Commodity Context aims to be a data-driven service that delivers nuanced insights right to your email and at a price point accessible to a far wider audience.

My posts will begin to shift behind the paywall over the next month. If you have only a modest sector interest or a tight budget, don’t worry—you will still get to the first (aka best) chart and summary bullets straight to your inbox.

If you work at an institution or company and you think that you and your team could use even more of this type of data and analysis, please reach out to rory@commoditycontext.com.

Conclusion

I am so excited to share my full vision of Commodity Context with you, and to deliver even more numbers, narrative, and nuance to your inboxes.

And what a time—Commodity markets are experiencing historic volatility and the ongoing energy transition will hardly settle things down. Independent, data-forward, clearly communicated information is especially valuable in this environment where seemingly everyone is talking their book.

Thank you again for reading, commenting on, and sharing my research. I continue to learn and gain so much from this community.

Technical PS: You can now access my research at simply CommodityContext.com in addition to the .substack.com domain.

Becoming a paying Commodity Context subscriber and clicking the LIKE button are two of the best ways to support my research.