The Feb’25 Brent futures contract saw strength this afternoon, increasing from $71.80/bbl at 12:00 GMT up to a touch above $72.50/bbl at 17:50 GMT (time of writing). In the news today, Equinor stated that the start-up of their Johan Castberg oilfield in the Arctic has been postponed to January or February 2025 due to poor weather conditions. Johan Castberg, located in the Barents Sea, holds estimated recoverable volumes of 450mb to 650mb of crude oil and will be able to produce 220kb/d at its peak, according to Equinor. In other news, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) said that Chinese oil demand could peak at 770 million metric tons as early as 2025 owing to the adoption of EVs and LNG trucks. This time last year, CNPC expected a peak of between 780-800 million metric tons in oil demand coming to China by 2030. Finally, Chevron has completed upgrades to its refinery in Pasadena, Texas, which is expected to increase processing capacity of lighter crudes by nearly 15% to 125kb/d. At the time of writing, the Feb/Mar’25 and Feb/Aug’25 Brent futures spreads stand at $0.32/bbl and $1.30/bbl, respectively.
