The Nov’25 Brent Futures Contract rallied to $70.75/bbl at 16:02 BST before softening to $60.26/bbl at 17:33 BST (time of writing). In the news, Dangote Petroleum Refinery has reportedly laid off all of its Nigerian workers, citing a “total reorganisation” following alleged sabotage incidents. The move came less than 24 hours after 90% of the workforce joined the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, raising concerns about union-busting. Despite this Dangote claimed that over 3,000 Nigerian staff remain employed. In other news, Mexico’s state oil firm Pemex exported 500kb/d of crude in August, down 32% from a year earlier, as domestic refineries processed more oil. The company’s seven refineries handled just over 1.05 mb/d, while total crude and condensate output was 1.64 mb/d flat from recent months but below last year’s levels. Exports are expected to fall further, dropping to 489 kb/d next year and 393 kb/dover the next decade. Despite being a top oil producer, Mexico still imports refined products due to the inefficiency of Pemex’s refineries in processing heavy Maya crude. Several terminal operators in China’s Shandong province will ban old and suspicious vessels from docking at Huangdao Port starting 1 November, according to Reuters. The move targets tankers over 31 years old, those with fake IMO numbers, invalid certificates, or recent accident or pollution records, restrictions that appear aimed at curbing the shadow fleet used for Iranian oil exports. Huangdao is a key entry point for Iranian crude into China, which buys over 90% of Iran’s exports. Iran, meanwhile, remains defiant, vowing to continue oil sales to China despite looming UN snapback sanctions. Finally, the front-month Nov/Dec and 6-month Nov/May spreads are at $0.90/bbl and $2.47/bbl respectively.
