The Feb’25 Brent futures contract declined marginally from $72.90/bbl at 12:00 GMT to a touch under $72.75/bbl at 17:50 GMT (time of writing). In the news today, Russian President Putin said Moscow launched more than 90 missiles and 100 drones that hit 17 targets in Ukraine, leaving more than 1 million people without power. Energy provider DTEK stated today that there were emergency power outages in Kyiv, Odesa, and Donetsk. In other news, Israel and Hezbollah have traded accusations of ceasefire violations, with Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah stating “the Israeli enemy is attacking those returning to the border villages”. Meanwhile, the Israeli air force struck a Hezbollah facility used to store mid-range rockets today, after alleging Hezbollah “suspects” with vehicles arrived in southern Lebanon. Furthermore, the CEO of Israel-focused gas producer Energean has urged Israel to issue new offshore oil and gas exploration licenses to meet rising demand in the region, as per Reuters. Energean produced 112kb/d of oil equivalent in Israel in the first 10 months of the year, where it operates an offshore production vessel from the Karish and Tanin fields. Finally, West Africa’s oil exports to Asia are set to reach their highest level since September 2023 this month, led by stronger loadings to India. Nigeria has reduced its OSPs for Qua Iboe and Bonny Light crude in December to the lowest level in five months, as per Bloomberg. In addition, North Sea benchmark BFOET loadings are scheduled at 587kb/d in January, the lowest since October. At the time of writing, the Jan/Feb’25 and Jan/Jul’25 Brent futures spreads stand at $0.53/bbl and $1.75/bbl, respectively.
