The Nov’25 Brent Futures contract jumped up to $67.10/bbl at 14:04 BST. Prices then traded between $67.33/bbl and $66.82/bbl. At 16:30 BST prices fell to $66.72/bbl and continued falling to $66.55 at 17:45 BST (time of writing). The sudden hike in price comes after Israel launched an attack on Hamas leadership in Doha, Qatar. Qatar condemned the strike as a violation of international law, while countries including Iran, the UAE, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia also issued sharp rebukes. Reuters analysts warned this could derail recent diplomatic efforts on the Palestinian issue and provoke regional backlash. In the news, US lawmakers led by Senator Mike Lee introduced a bill to stop President Trump from shifting biofuel blending requirements from small to large oil refineries. The proposed “Protect Consumers from Reallocation Costs Act of 2025” aims to block the EPA from forcing bigger refiners to cover obligations waived for smaller ones through exemptions. A decision from the White House is expected soon following the EPA’s submission of a proposal for handling billions of exempted gallons. In other news, Iraq’s state oil marketer SOMO is in talks with ExxonMobil to secure crude storage sites near key demand centres in Asia, the US, and Europe. The aim is to create a more stable market and strategic reserve for Iraqi oil. Iraq also plans to boost its oil output capacity from 4.5 mb/d to over 6 mb/d by 2029, including through a $25 Bn deal with BP to redevelop the Kirkuk fields, which could hold up to 20 Bn bbl. Finally, the front-month Nov/Dec spread is at $0.30/bbl and the 6-month Nov/May spread is at $0.90/bbl.
