A choppy Tuesday for crude flat price as Brent came off from highs of $88.21/bbl this morning, coming off to lows of $86.06/bbl at 13:50 BST before steadily rallying to $88/bbl levels by 17:00 BST. On the other hand, bearish Brent puts are now trading at a premium amid a fading geopolitical risk premium. Orlen has cancelled contracts to buy Venezuelan oil and refined products after losing more than $400 million on prepayments for deliveries it never received. TotalEnergies plans to expand fuel trade with South Africa after a wave of refinery shutdowns have increased its reliance on imports. Russia’s Orsk oil refinery resumed full operations early on Tuesday after flooding in the region caused a two-week suspension. The front- and 6-month Brent futures spreads are at $1.00/bbl and $4.74/bbl respectively.
