The Oct’24 Brent futures contract fell below the $80/bbl mark at 05:40 BST, sitting at $79.80/bbl at 06:50 BST. However, the futures contract found support at this level and firmed up to $80.20/bbl at 11:30 BST (time of writing). The US CPI increased by 0.2% in July to 2.9% y/y (June: +3% y/y), its first sub-3% reading since March 2021. The core CPI climbed 0.2% in July (June: 0.2%). In China, new home prices declined 4.9% y/y, their sharpest drop since June 2015 (June: 4.5% y/y). In other news, Chevron Corp. will reportedly pay $550 million over 10 years to the city council in Richmond, California, as a settlement to drop a proposed new tax on Chevron’s Richmond refinery. As per a National Statistics Office (SSB) survey, Norwegian oil and gas investments are expected to hit a record 257 billion Norwegian crowns ($23.99 billion) in 2024 and remain elevated in 2025 on the back of ongoing field developments and rising inflation. Finally, at the time of writing, the Oct/Nov’24 and Oct/Apr’25 Brent futures spreads stood at $0.80/bbl and $2.70/bbl, respectively.
