The Oct’24 Brent futures contract traded around a range of $76.20/bbl and $76.50/bbl between 13:00 BST and 14:45 BST before strengthening further into the afternoon, firming up to $77.55/bbl as of 17:10 BST (time of writing). Russian crude made up 44% of India’s overall imports in July’24 at 2.07mb/d (+4.2% m/m and +12% y/y), surpassing China’s July oil imports from Russia of 1.76mb/d. In addition, Russia’s oil exports from its Western ports are expected to increase m/m in September as domestic refineries begin their seasonal maintenance next month. In macroeconomic news, the National Association of Realtors reported that US existing home sales stood at 3.95 million in Jul’24, +1.3% m/m but -2.5% y/y. US business activity dropped to a four-month low amid a flash US Composite PMI Output Index of 54.1 in Aug’24 (Jul’24: 54.3). Finally, US jobless claims increased by 4,000 to 232,000 (Reuters expectation: 230,000) in the week ending 17 Aug. Finally, at the time of writing, the Oct/Nov’24 and Oct/Apr’25 Brent futures spreads stood at $0.70/bbl and $2.55/bbl, respectively.
