The Jan’25 Brent futures contract declined this afternoon from $72.35/bbl at 12:00 GMT down to $71.00/bbl at 18:00 GMT (time of writing). We have seen bearish sentiment in Brent crude while China oil demand remains weak and Middle East ceasefire talks develop, with senior Iranian official Ali Larjani stating today that Iran backs any decision taken by Lebanon in securing a peace deal with Israel. In the news today, at least three Russian refineries, Tuapse, Ilsky and Novoshakhtinsky, have halted processing or cut runs due to heavy losses, according to Reuters, with these facilities struggling amid export curbs, high borrowing costs, and Ukrainian drone attacks. In other news, Sovcomflot reported a 22.2% y/y drop in nine-month revenue to $1.22 billion, claiming that the Western sanctions on Russian oil tankers limited its financial performance. Finally, according to a Bloomberg report, the selling pace of Angolan oil for December-loading is slower than usual, with about a third of the shipments still seeking buyers. At the time of writing, the Jan/Feb’25 and Jan/Jul’25 Brent futures spreads stand at $0.28/bbl and $0.94/bbl, respectively.
