The October Brent futures flat price has seen a strong afternoon, trading from a low of $78.64/bbl at 12:30 up to $80.06/bbl at 14:50 before retracing and settling around $79.73/bbl at the time of writing (17:20 BST). In headlines, data has emerged highlighting that China was the top buyer of Russian crude in July, purchasing 47% of Russia’s total exports, followed by India with 37%, the latter amounting to $2.8 billion, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). Furthermore, around 80% of India’s fossil fuel imports from Russia were crude oil, while India accounted for 18% of Russia’s coal exports, second to China, which purchased 45%. Russia has become India’s leading oil supplier since the invasion of Ukraine, and more Indian refiners are now exploring long-term oil supply deals with Russia; Some of India’s private refiners, including Nayara Energy—partially owned by Russia’s Rosneft—and Reliance Industries, which runs the world’s largest refinery in Jamnagar, have already secured long-term agreements to buy Russian oil. The Oct/Nov and Oct/Apr’25 Brent spreads are at $0.77/bbl and $2.69/bbl, respectively.
