After the Nov’24 Brent futures contract came off yesterday evening following the Fed’s 50 bps rate cut, flat price strengthened his morning, trading at $73.94/bbl at 07:00 BST and moving up to the $74.35/bbl handle at 11:30 BST (time of writing). The Fed cut signals the start of easing and has fostered expectations of possible stronger future demand for crude oil. In the news today, Saudi Aramco has awarded a $2 billion deal to Italian engineering group Saipem as part of the expansion of the Marjan offshore field in Saudi Arabia, expected to provide a 300 kb/d boost in production capacity by 2025. In other news, analysts at Citi stated Brent crude prices in Q4 could be bolstered by demand possibly outstripping supply in the near-term and suggested that prices could have temporary support in the $70 to $75/bbl range. However, Citi remains strong in its view that Brent is set to decline to around $60/bbl in 2025. Finally, following the explosion of thousands of Hezbollah pagers in Lebanon earlier this week, other devices including radios, laptops and even solar power cells have detonated, injuring a total of 450 people and killing at least 20, according to Al Jazeera. Israel has yet to comment on the explosions meanwhile Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is due to give a televised address at 15:00 BST today. At the time of writing, the front month (Nov/Dec’24) and six-month (Nov/May’25) Brent futures spreads are at $0.75/bbl and $1.92/bbl, respectively.
