The Jan’25 Brent futures contract weakened this morning, trading at $73.95/bbl at 07:00 GMT and selling off from $74.05/bbl at 09:10 GMT to $72.90/bbl at 10:20 GMT, inching down further to $72.80/bbl at 10:45 GMT (time of writing). Crude oil prices sold off as the market continues to react to weakening Chinese oil demand and the declining risk of Hurricane Rafael to US Gulf Coast oil infrastructure. In the news today, Chinese customs data showed that China’s crude imports were at 10.53mb in October, a decrease of 8.7% y/y and down from 11.07mb in September, according to Reuters. In other news, the Syrian state news agency SANA made initial reports of an Israeli attack in Homs’ southern countryside in central Syria, with Israel allegedly targeting an aid gathering centre for displaced Lebanese citizens. Finally, Russia is considering a merger of Rosneft, Gazprom, and Lukoil, as per the Wall Street Journal. This would entail Rosneft absorbing the two smaller companies, resulting in the world’s second-largest oil company after Saudi Aramco and a combined capacity of almost 7.5mb/d. At the time of writing, the Jan/Feb’25 and Jan/Jul’25 Brent futures spreads stand at $0.24/bbl and $0.84/bbl, respectively.
