Nov’24 Brent futures contract was volatile this morning, trading at $75.03/bbl at 07:00 BST and dipping down to a low of $74.25/bbl at 09:45 BST, before climbing up to $74.64/bbl at 11:25 BST (time of writing). In the news today, Israel has unleashed it most widespread wave of airstrikes on Lebanon, and warned citizens to evacuate areas near Hezbollah posts, according to Reuters. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said today that the country is “deepening our attacks in Lebanon” and will continue until “we achieve our goal to return the northern residents safely to their homes”. In other news, Shell is preparing to shut in oil production at two of its platforms in the US Gulf of Mexico, Stones and Appomattox, as a tropical disturbance may cause a potential impact on their operations. Meanwhile, a port strike in the US looms on the horizon, threatening a potential supply chain crisis and increasing prices. Finally, China’s newest 400kb/d refiner Yulong has started up their crude unit and Libyan oil exports have rebounded above 700kb/d, according to Bloomberg, despite the ban on exports by Libya’s eastern government. At the time of writing, the front month (Nov/Dec’24) and six-month (Nov/May’25) Brent futures spreads are at $0.77/bbl and $1.92/bbl, respectively.
