The Oct’24 Brent futures flat price started the day on a bullish front and rallied past the $80/bbl handle. The benchmark crude futures contract was observed sitting just below $80.40/bbl as of 11:35 BST (time of writing). CFTC COT data for Brent futures over the week ending 06 Aug showcased managed-by-money participants liquidating over 37.8mb from their length w/w (-18.73%) while their short-positioned counterparts were seen adding over 18mb to their positions w/w (+13.80%). Prod/merc players in Brent futures were more risk-off in the week ending 06 Aug, removing over 49mb from their longs w/w (-5.30%) and 55mb from their shorts (-4.70%). In other news, Saudi Arabian crude oil exports to China are set to decline by nearly 3mb to 43mb in Sep’24. Russia has evacuated civilians from a portion of the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine following rising Ukrainian military activity near the border. Finally, at the time of writing, the Oct/Nov’24 and Oct/Apr’25 Brent futures spreads stood at $0.80/bbl and $2.90/bbl, respectively.
