The Dec’25 Brent futures contract has risen this morning, from $62.10/bbl at 05:00 BST to $62.45/bbl at 09:00 BST before meeting resistance and easing to $62.32 at 11:00 BST (time of writing). In the news, Bloomberg has reported that three VLCCs were diverted from China’s Rizhao port due to US sanctions on the terminal early this week. Two of the three vessels were redirected to the Ningbo Zhoushan port in the East China Sea with the final ship inbound for the northern port of Tianjin. On board the VLCCs are crude oil from Brazil, West Africa, and the UAE. Elsewhere, Reuters reports that TotalEnergies is expecting an increase in their Q3 results, citing greater upstream production and better margins for refining crude; margins averaged $63.00/mt ($9/bbl) in Q3, a 300% increase y/y. In other news, US President Trump stated on Truth Social that he is considering ceasing cooking oil trade with China in response to a Chinese boycott of American soybeans. In London, Pennpetro Energy has announced a head of terms deal to acquire the western Ukrainian Limnytskyi oil and gas exploration license. The region, according to the company’s statement, has been home to over 100 oil and gas field discoveries. The deal is now subject to legal, regulatory, and purchase agreement approvals. Finally, at time of writing, the front-month Dec/Jan’26 and 6-month Dec/Jun’26 spreads are at $0.37/bbl and $0.43/bbl, respectively.
