The Dec’25 Brent futures contract has fallen this morning, from $66.40/bbl at 06:00 GMT to $65.08/bbl at 09:00 GMT. Prices met some support here, rising to $65.29/bbl at 10:30 GMT (time of writing). In the news, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said that the US and China have sketched out a preliminary trade deal framework, which would defer China’s rare-earth export controls and avoid 100% tariffs on Chinese goods. The trade deal is subject to approval ahead of the Trump-Xi summit on Thursday. In Iraq, Reuters reported an oil pipeline fire on Sunday at Iraq’s Zubair oilfield (capacity 400kb/d). While five workers suffered injuries, no disruptions to the refinery were reported. This morning, Iranian Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani has said that Iran’s total oil exports currently sit at 3.6mb/d, undisrupted by the fire. Elsewhere, western pressure on Indian oil imports has the country intensifying oil and gas explorations, according to the Indian energy ministry. In a Bloomberg report, the IEA has suggested that oil prices will ‘moderate’ amidst increasing output in the Americas. Finally, at time of writing, the front-month Dec/Jan’26 and 6-month Dec/Jun’26 spreads are at $0.72/bbl and $1.90/bbl, respectively.
