The September Brent futures flat price has seen an uptick following a gradual softening earlier in the morning. Between 02:00 BST and 08:10 BST the price fell from $84.90/bbl to graze $84/bbl, but has subsequently risen back above $84.85/bbl, where it sits as of 10:55 BST (time of writing). Saudi Aramco has started its first Dollar bond sale in three years and will sell bonds with 10, 30 and 40-year maturities as part of Saudi Arabia’s quest to bring at least $3 billion more cash to help refinance debt to fund its investment program. This comes after the Kingdom raised $12.35 billion from selling a 0.64% stake in the NOC, or 1.545 billion shares, last month. Major ports near Houston are cleared for some daylight operations following a complete closure over the weekend due to Hurricane Beryl. Unfortunately, this didn’t stop the city of Houston having a 154,000-gallon sewage spill following a power outage. Yemen’s Houthis say they attacked the Maersk Sentosa ship in the Arabian sea with several ballistic missiles, as well as two other ships, including one in the Gulf of Aden. Deflationary data out of China (negative PPI, barely positive CPI) weighed on sentiment earlier in the session as it raised concerns over demand. The focus this afternoon will be turned to the release of weekly EIA data. Whilst crude data will be closely watched, the health of US gasoline demand will likely take centre stage, given how managed money players have been hedging their exposure to RBOB and increasing their gross short positions. Additionally, Fed chair Jerome Powell’s remarks before the Senate Banking Committee were skewed to dovish side, but he was careful not to signal the timing of any future policy change. At the time of writing, the front and 6-month spreads are $0.84/bbl and $3.63/bbl, respectively.
