The Oct’25 Brent Futures contract initially rallied to $67.89/bbl at 15:34 BST before falling to $67.39/bbl at 16:22 BST. Prices have since bounced back to $67.83/bbl at 17:15 BST (time of writing). In the news, Russia launched a major drone assault on Ukraine’s energy and gas infrastructure overnight, hitting six regions and leaving over 100,000 people without power, according to Ukrainian officials. Key gas transport facilities in Poltava and a major substation in Sumy were damaged. The attacks also struck Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Chernihiv, disrupting utilities and forcing healthcare and water systems onto backup power. In other news, crude oil shipments from Russia to Hungary via the Druzhba pipeline may resume in test mode on Thursday at reduced volumes, Hungary’s Foreign Minister said. Hungarian oil company MOL stated it can temporarily rely on reserves but may need to draw on strategic stockpiles or increase imports via the Adriatic pipeline. A prolonged halt past September 1 could disrupt Hungary’s fuel supply and halt diesel exports from Slovakia to Ukraine. Harvest Midstream, owned by Hilcorp founder Jeff Hildebrand, will acquire $1 Bn in natural gas gathering and processing assets from MPLX. The deal includes 1,500 miles of pipelines and 1.2 bcf/d of processing capacity, expanding Harvest into Utah’s Uinta and Green River shale basins. MPLX has completed $3.5 Bn in acquisitions this year, including Northwind Midstream. Finally, the front-month Oct/Nov and 6-month Oct/Apr spreads are at $0.58/bbl and $1.79/bbl respectively.
