The Jan’25 Brent futures contract strengthened this morning from $74.05/bbl at 07:00 GMT up to $74.65/bbl at 10:10 GMT, before coming off to around $74.30/bbl at 10:35 GMT (time of writing). Crude oil prices saw support amid reports that Iran is preparing a major retaliatory attack on Israel by proxy from Iraq in the coming days, with US officials continuing to work towards an Israel-Lebanon ceasefire deal in the meantime. In the news today, Israel hit Beirut’s southern suburbs with airstrikes aimed at Hezbollah assets early this morning, in the first such strikes in days targeting the dense urban area. In other news, according to S&P Global, Russia is not planning to lift its gasoline export ban early due to ongoing refinery turnarounds and high retail prices, after Russian officials indicated in September that the ban could be lifted early on the condition of a gasoline surplus. Turnarounds are expected to continue at several Russian refineries into the first half of November, including the Norsi, Ryazan, and Volgograd facilities. Finally, a Ukrainian drone has crashed into an oil depot in Russia’s Stavropol region, reported by a local governor Vladimir Vladimirov on Telegram. This follows yesterday’s drone attack on the Russian region of Bashkortostan, where major oil company Bashneft operates several large refineries. At the time of writing, the Jan/Feb’25 and Jan/Jul’25 Brent futures spreads stand at $0.41/bbl and $1.33/bbl, respectively.
