The Brent futures flat price for the prompt contract has seen a relatively stable morning. Initial weakness saw prices dip below the $78/bbl mark, falling to $77.84/bbl at 09:00 GMT, before buying interest saw price action climb back to $78.71/bbl at 10:10 GMT.
The fire which halted fuel production at Novatek’s gas condensate plant in the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga has been linked to Ukrainian drones operated by Kyiv’s special forces. Russia was China’s largest oil supplier in 2023, exporting a record of 107.02mn mt of crude oil. China and India together imported almost 90% of Russia’s oil exports in 2023.
Looking at the CFTC data for the week to Jan 16, in Brent futures we saw a continuation of a more bullish sentiment, with bullish speculators adding almost 15mbbls (+5%) of length, whilst their bearish counterparts decreased their short positioning by 1.5mbbls (-2%). In WTI, a more bearish stance was seen, with bulls removing over 5mbbls (-2.5%) of long positions, whilst bears added to their short positioning by over 13mbbls (12%).
The front and 6-month Brent futures spreads are at $0.42/bbl and $1.82/bbl, respectively.
Asian Refinery Margins: Q2-24: $8.68/bbl, Cal24: $8.54/bbl
Europe Refinery Margins: Q2-24: $6.78/bbl, Cal24: $5.87/bbl
