The Mar’25 Brent futures contract strengthened above $77/bbl at noon GMT today, where it met resistance and softened to $76.70/bbl at 14:15 GMT. Since then, the benchmark crude futures contract has continued to oscillate between these ranges, seeing resistance at $77.15/bbl and support at $76.65/bbl, and stands at $76.95/bbl at 17:30 GMT (time of writing). US President-elect Donald Trump said he will revoke a Biden-era offshore oil and gas drilling ban in vast areas “on day one”. In addition, Shangdong Port Group gas banned US-sanctioned tankers from calling into its ports in Shangdong province. Meanwhile, the US has blacklisted oil major CNOOC and shipping line COSCO Shipping in a list that qualifies companies with ties to the Chinese army as military companies. While this status does not carry sanctions, it includes the US government discouraging US companies from doing business with the blacklisted companies. US JOLTs Job Openings data showed an uptick in job openings in Nov 2024 at 8.098 million (prev: 7.839 million, forecast: 7.730 million). Finally, at the time of writing, the Mar/Apr’25 and Mar/Sep’25 Brent futures spreads stand at $0.60/bbl and $2.67/bbl, respectively.
