The Feb’25 Brent futures flat price traded around the $73.30/bbl level overnight Monday before falling by nearly 50c and below $73/bbl within half an hour, trading $72.94/bbl at 10:00 GMT. In the news, a second drone attack in a week targeted Russia’s Oryol fuel depot on 22 Dec, causing a fire that was quickly extinguished, amid a series of Ukrainian strikes on strategic energy infrastructure. Russia’s Druzhba pipeline resumed crude supply to Belarus on 21 Dec after a two-day halt due to a technical issue, with operations now reported as normal. China’s CNOOC announced the start of production at its Suizhong 36-2 oilfield block development in Liaoning Bay, Bohai Sea, with plans for 21 wells and peak output projected at 9,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2026. Methane emissions in the Permian Basin, the heart of US oil production, fell 26% in 2023 as producers responded to regulatory pressures, societal demands, and economic incentives, though concerns linger over the sustainability of progress under potential policy rollbacks. Finally, the front (Feb/Mar) and 6-month (Feb/Aug) Brent futures spreads are at $0.37/bbl and $1.79/bbl respectively.
