The Jan’25 Brent Futures contract was volatile but saw strength this morning, increasing from $71.85/bbl at 07:00 GMT up to $72.55/bbl at 10:50 GMT (time of writing). Prices reached $72.45/bbl at 09:05 GMT but quickly fell to $72.00 at 09:20 GMT before recovering. In the news today, Libyan oil output is under threat amid protests in response to the kidnapping of a senior intelligence officer Mustafa al-Whayshi. According to Africanews, the protesters blame the Tripoli government for this incident and have shut down oil distribution valves which connect the Sharara and El Feel oilfields to a refinery in Zawya, a facility with a processing capacity of 350kb/d. In other news, TotalEnergies has awarded engineering contracts worth at least $3 billion as part of its fast-track development of Suriname’s first offshore project, according to Reuters. This included a contract with French firm TechnipEnergies for $1.1 billion to build a floating production storage and offloading vessel, projected to startup in 2028 with an expected oil output of 220kb/d and total crude oil capacity of 2mb. Finally, a Bloomberg report has shown that India’s trade deficit widened in October significantly to $27.1 billion, compared to a survey forecast of $22 billion. Imports grew 3.9% in October y/y while exports rose by 17.3%. At the time of writing, the Jan/Feb’25 and Jan/Jul’25 Brent futures spreads stand at $0.33/bbl and $1.22/bbl, respectively.
