The July Brent Futures flat price has had a fairly volatile afternoon, rising to a high of $84.40/bbl at 13:05 BST, before sinking between 13:05 BST and 16:05 BST to a low of $83.10/bbl. Subsequently it slightly retraced upwards to $83.70/bbl handles at 16:35 BST before quickly shedding some of these gains to reach its current level of around $83.45/bbl at 17:10 (time of writing). ADNOC has pushed up its self-reported crude output capacity to 4.9mbbls/d, up from 4.7mbbls/d, taking the company closer to its long-term 5mbbls/d target, which it aims to reach by 2027. Kazakhstan’s April oil production was down 2% from March to 1.5mbbls/d, yet still above a cap agreed by OPEC+. This was especially important as oil-watchers expect OPEC+ to extend current supply cuts into the second half of 2024, with the group set to decide supply policy on June 1. Venezuelan oil exports also declined 38% in April to 545kbbls/d from 874kbbls/d in March, after tanker owners and customers pulled several vessels as the reimposition of US sanctions approaches. In corporate news, Shell has smashed forecasts and recorded a $7.7 billion Q1 profit, over $1 billion above expectations, with the company saying it will now buy back a further $3.5 billion of its shares over the next three months. The front and 6-month Brent Futures spreads are $0.63/bbl and $3.44/bbl respectively.
