June Brent futures flat price fell below $87.40/bbl at 15:50 BST before recovering to around $87.90/bbl at 17:00 BST (time of writing). The US GDP grew 1.6% annually in Q1, falling below market expectations of 2.5%. This growth followed a 3.4% increase in Q4 2023. In February, Russia remained India’s top crude oil supplier, despite a 19% decrease from the previous month, with $3.61 billion worth of supplies. Iraq, traditionally the second-largest supplier, slipped to third place with $2.24 billion in February, down 11.6% from January’s $2.54 billion. Moreover, India’s oil demand in February rose by 265kbbls/d to an all time high of 5.59mbbls/d. Oil loading from Russia’s Western ports are projected to fall by around 1 million mt in May, down 13% on a daily basis, as Russian oil refining capacity comes back online. Finally, the front-month and six-month Brent spreads are currently at $1.21/bbl and $4.83/bbl, respectively.
