The Mar’25 Brent futures contract fell from a daily high of $76.90/bbl at 0100 GMT to see resistance at $76.15/bbl, around level with the 21-day simple moving average, for much of the morning. It rose to $76.40/bbl at 1020 GMT (time of writing), with the daily upper Bollinger Band seemingly acting as a resistance level. Saudi Arabia plans to borrow $37 billion in 2025 to fund oil-diversification projects and repay debt, starting with a three-tranche dollar bond managed by Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan. Saudi Aramco raised its February crude prices for Asia, increasing Arab Light by 60 cents to $1.50 per barrel above the regional benchmark, after hitting a four-year low in January. Asia’s crude oil imports fell 1.4% in 2024, the first annual decline since the pandemic, driven by a 1.9% drop in Chinese imports, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, India is expected to surpass China as the top driver of global oil demand in 2025, with a forecasted 3.2% growth compared to China’s 1.7%, according to S&P Global. Beijing will expand ultra-long treasury note funding in 2025 to boost company growth and consumer spending, aiming to revive the slowing economy. At the time of writing, the Mar/Apr’25 and Mar/Sep’25 Brent futures spreads stand at $0.60/bbl and $2.61/bbl, respectively.
