This afternoon, Dec’24 Brent futures flat price sold off from $79.41/bbl at 12:00 BST down to an intraday low of $76.40/bbl shortly after 17:35 BST, before recovering slightly to $77.56 at 17:50 BST (time of writing). Price action saw weakness amid boosted Libyan crude output and renewed concerns of poor Chinese oil demand, with Chinese officials yet to reveal additional measures to prop up the economy. In the news today, the Libyan National Oil Corporation stated that Libyan crude oil production has reached 1.13mb/d following the end of the political stalemate which began in August. Libya’s largest oilfield, Sharara, was estimated to be producing 240kb/d as of Sunday, according to Bloomberg. In other news, conflict in the Middle East continues to brew, with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant stating today that Hashem Safieddine, the intended successor to Hassan Nasrallah as leader of Hezbollah, has reportedly been killed in the south Lebanon ground offensive. Meanwhile, Hezbollah fired 135 rockets into Israel by mid-afternoon today, causing extensive damage, according to Reuters. At the time of writing, the front month (Dec/Jan’25) and six-month (Dec/Jun’25) Brent futures spreads are at $0.41/bbl and $1.71/bbl, respectively.
