The Sep’25 Brent crude futures saw a quiet Friday afternoon, trading between $68 and $68.50/bbl. Prices are on track for a weekly gain after seeing sideways action following last week’s rout. The UK’s insolvent Lindsey oil refinery faces shutdown within 3 weeks with the current 1.8mb of crude it has in storage. According to Woodmac analyst Emma Howsham, crude throughputs are likely scaled back with yesterday’s FCC shutdown, operating in the less profitable hydroskimming configuration. Nonetheless, the Official Receiver (officer of the Insolvency Service of the UK) reached a deal with Glencore overnight for the trade house to continue to supply crude oil to the refinery. In other news, Trump and Zelenskyy discussed boosting Ukraine’s air defences and joint military cooperation amid escalating Russian strikes, following Trump’s call with Putin and a major drone attack on Kyiv. Finally, the front (Sep/Oct) and 6-month (Sep/Mar) Brent futures spreads are at $1.07/bbl and $2.77/bbl respectively.
