The September Brent futures contract saw a strong morning, trading from around $86.80/bbl at 8:00 BST down to a low of $86.60/bbl at 08:40 BST before rising steadily over the remainder of the morning to reach $87.24/bbl at the time of writing (11:00 BST). In the headlines today, Hurricane Beryl has intensified significantly, becoming the strongest Atlantic storm at this time of year in history. Now at category 5 status, the highest rating on the Saffir-Simpson scale for storm wind speed, the weather system is forecast to blast Yucatan and Campeche and may affect Mexico’s drilling operations, the majority of which are situated in the Tabasco region, slightly south of the anticipated path. In other news, Siemens Energy is shifting its focus towards grid expansion rather than wind power, planning to invest approximately $1.6 billion over the next six years, as reported by the Financial Times. This expansion will necessitate a significant increase in their workforce, with 10,000 new hires expected; In the US alone, the upgrades and expansion needed to make the grid transition-ready by 2035 have been estimated at over $2.5 trillion. For Europe, annual investments in grid upgrades have been calculated at some $73 billion between 2025 and 2040, according to the IEEE Spectrum, a publication from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. At the time of writing, the front (Sep/Oct) and 6-month (Sep/Mar) Brent futures spreads are at $0.94/bbl and $4.12/bbl, respectively.
