The Brent futures flat price for the prompt contract has witnessed a weaker morning, falling from highs of $90.64/bbl in the early hours to lows of $89.23/bbl at 09:05 BST. Prices saw a slight uptick since, printing at $89.69/bbl at 11:20 BST. Over the weekend, Iran launched a direct drone attack against Israel, however, it was met by an underwhelming response from the market due to its lack of damage. The market is awaiting a decision regarding Israel’s response, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet reportedly favouring a retaliation against Iran, whilst President Biden urges Israel to take a measured approach. Looking at the CFTC data for the week to Apr 09, in Brent futures we witnessed a more risk on attitude. Bullish speculators added over 13mbbls (+3.6%) of length and their bearish counterparts also added 10.8mbbls (+15.2%) of short positioning, with net positioning at its highest level since September 2021. WTI speculators followed a similar course increasing their length by almost 10mbbls (+3.8%), coupled with an increase of 3.6mbbls (+8.1%) of short positions. The front and 6-month Brent futures spreads are at $0.84/bbl and $4.66/bbl, respectively.
